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INDIAN WARS 

OF 

THE UNITED STATES, 

FROM 

THE DISCOVERY 

TO THE L- 



PRESENT TIME. 




PHILADELPHIA: 
PUBLISHED BY R. W. POMEROY, 

No. 3, MINOR STREET, 

1842. 




Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1840, by 

R. W. POMEROY, 
in the clerk's office of the district court of the eastern district 
of Pennsylvania. 



STEREOTYPED BY J. FAGAN PHILADELPHIA. 

PRINTED BY C. SHERMAN AND CO. 



■ 



CONTENTS, 

Introduction.— General Account of the Indians of North Ame- 
rica Page 9 

Chapter L Early Indian Wars of Florida 50 

II. Early Indian Wars of Virginia , 90 

III. Early Indian Relations of New England Ill 

IV The Pequod War 118 

V. King Philip's War 123 

VI. King William's War 140 

VII. Wars of the Five Nations (to the Close of the last 

French and Indian War) 153 

VIII. Queen Anne's War 174 

IX. Love well's War 180 

X. Last French and Indian War 185 

XI. Pontiac's War 204 

XII. War of the Western Indians 210 

XIII. Indian Wars of Carolina previous to the Revolution. . 216 

XIV. Cresap's War , 225 

XV. Indian Wars of the Revolution 231 

XVI. North- Western War (during Washington's Adminis- 
tration) 250 

XVII. Tippecanoe War 256 

XVIII. North- Western War (1812 and 1813) 266 

XIX. The Creek War 282 

XX. Seminole War (1817) 292 

XXI. Black Hawk's War 300 

XXII. Seminole War 305 

(7) 



PREFACE. 



In a general history of the United States, the Indian wars 
are apt to be passed over rather slightly. The press of other 
matter leaves little room for the consideration of them; and 
they appear as detached and unimportant incidents. But 
when we consider that every inch of the soil, now in pos- 
session of the people of this republic, was either purchased 
or conquered from the aborigines, the means by which this 
immense acquisition was accomplished must certainly be 
regarded as highly worthy the attention of history. Nor is 
this the only reason why this subject should be distinctly 
treated, and attentively studied, by the people of this coun- 
try. Our citizens are too apt to forget what their ancestors 
did and suffered for their good; and the historian should 
faithfully remind them, as often as occasion may occur, of 
those times when the rifle was carried to the meadows and 
the corn-field as a protection to the husbandman ; and when 
the setting sun was the signal for transforming every dwell- 
ing-house into a garrisoned castle. 

In the hope of calling public attention to this portion of 
our history, by treating it distinctly and independently, the 
following work has been composed. It comprises a narra- 
tive of all the Indian wars conducted within the territory of 
the United States, between the aborigines and the European 
race, from the discovery to the present time— all, which were 
deemed of sufficient importance, in their nature or results, 
to claim a place in general history. 

In order to bring the annals of so long a period within the 
compass of a moderate-sized volume, it was necessary to 
avoid minute details, and to carry the narrative forward 
with an eye to the general nature and main results of each 
contest. Still the author hopes that there is enough of indi- 
vidual action and character in the history to interest, with- 
out that prolixity which would weary the reader. The gene- 
ral subject is full of interest and instruction, and if the au- 
thor is deficient in either, it has not been for want of a fer- 
tile field of incident, and an infinite variety of characters 
and actions. 



INDIAN WARS 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES. 



INTRODUCTION. 

GENERAL ACCOUNT OF THE INDIANS 
OF NORTH AMERICA. 

ORIGIN. 

T the time when North 
America was first visited 
by the Europeans, it was 
inhabited by many inde- 
pendent savage tribes, who 
subsisted by hunting, fish- 
ing, the spontaneous pro- 
ductions of the earth, and 
some cultivation of the 
soil. These tribes com- 
monly lived remote from each other, in the bosom of 
immense forests ; and each claimed an extensive tract 
of land as its hunting ground. 

But the great body of the North American Indians 

(9) 




10 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

are evidently of a race different from the Esquimaux, 
and concerning their origin various opinions have been 
entertained, 

Blome, Adair, and Boudinot, have thought them the 
descendants of the ten tribes of Israel ; others have 
imagined them the offspring of the Canaanites expelled 
by Joshua: Grotius, adopting the opinion of Martyr, 
the companion of Columbus, believed part at least of 
America to have been peopled by ^Ethiopians and 
Christians ; and the late ingenious De Witt Clinton, go- 
vernor of the state of New York, maintained that the 
American Indians are of Tartar origin ; and that, in 
ages past, they overcame and exterminated a prior 
race of inhabitants, who had made greater progress in 
civilization than themselves. But, whatever may be 
the difficulty of accounting for the ancient fortifications 
to which this learned writer refers, his opinion seems to 
rest on no solid foundation ; for there is no appearance 
that, before their intercourse with the Europeans, the 
Indians had ever seen a people who had attained any 
considerable degree of improvement. 

But to enter into speculations of this kind is not the 
object of the present work ; and it may serve our pur- 
pose to allege, in general, that the progenitors of the 
Indian tribes emigrated from the north-east parts of 
Asia to the north-west parts of America, and thence 
gradually spread themselves over that great continent. 
At what time this emigration began, it is needless to en- 
quire and impossible to ascertain. It is not unreason- 
able to believe, that families or tribes performed the 
passage at different periods and at different places. 
Savages are often carried to great distances in their 
frail barks. The islands of the South Sea, although 



ORIGIN OF THE INDIANS. 1 1 

widely separated from each other, are mostly inhabited ; 
and the person who thoroughly understands the lan- 
guage of any one island, is seldom at a loss to hold 
communication with the natives of any other; which 
proves that those people are all of one common stock, 
and that the period of their settlement in the islands is 
not very remote. 

In this inquiry, the Indians can give us no assistance ; 
for of their own history, beyond the traditionary re- 
cords of two or three generations, they know nothing ; 
and the strange notions which some of them entertain 
of their origin need not surprise us. According to the 
unambitious belief of the Osages, a people living on the 
banks of one of the lower tributaries of the Missouri, 
they are sprung from a snail and a beaver. The Man- 
dans believed their ancestors once lived in a large village 
under ground, near a subterranean lake; that by means 
of a vine tree, which extended its roots to their cheer- 
less habitation, they got a glimpse of the light : that in- 
formed by some adventurers, who had visited the upper 
world, of the numerous buffaloes pasturing on the plains, 
and of the trees loaded with delicious fruits, the whole 
nation, with one consent, began to ascend the roots of 
the vine; but that, when about the half of them had 
reached the surface, a corpulent woman climbing up, 
broke the roots by her weight ; that the earth immedi- 
ately closed, and concealed for ever from those below, 
the cheering beams of the sun. From a people who 
entertain such fanciful notions of their origin, no valu- 
able information concerning their early history can be 
expected. 

The character of man, to a great extent, is formed 
by the circumstances in which he is placed; and, as all 



12 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the North American nations, at the time of their first 
discovery by Europeans, were in the same savage state, 
and procured subsistence by similar means, there was 
a striking uniformity in their appearance, character, 
manners, customs, and opinions. But, by their inter- 
course with Europeans, that uniformity has, in some 
measure, been broken. Many of the tribes have re- 
ceived several articles of merchandise, horses, arms, 
cloth, culinary utensils, and intoxicating liquors, from 
their white neighbours or visiters, and this has had some 
influence on their habits of life. 

COLOUR. 

The colour of the human race seems to depend on 
two circumstances, — climate, and manner of life. In 
general, mankind are of a darker colour as we advance 
towards the equator, and whiter as we approach the 
polar regions. The complexion is affected also by the 
degree of elevation above the level of the sea. Climate, 
however, is not the only circumstance on which colour 
depends : it is determined, in a considerable degree, by 
the manner of life. In the same parallel of latitude, 
savages who are almost always in the open air, and 
who live in a rude and dirty manner, are of a darker 
complexion than the members of more civilized society. 

Both of those causes have operated on the North 
American Indians. They are all of a red copper co- 
lour, with some diversity of shade. The men are tall, 
large boned, and well made; with small black eyes,' 
lodged in deep sockets, high cheek-bones, nose more or 
less aquiline, mouth large, lips rather thick, and the hair 
of the head black, straight, and coarse. In general, 
they carefully extract the hair of the beard and other 



EMPLOYMENTS AND DRESS OF THE INDIANS. 



13 



parts of the body, and hence were long believed desti- 
tute of that excrescence. The general expression of 
the countenance is thoughtful and sedate. Formerly 
some tribes flattened the heads of their infants by arti- 
ficial pressure : but at present that practice is unknown 
to the east of the Rocky Mountains. They have a 
sound understanding, quick apprehension, and retentive 
memory, with an air of indifference in their general 
behaviour. 

The women, or squaws, differ considerably from the 
men, both in person and features. They are small and 
short, with homely, broad faces ; but have often an ex- 
pression of mildness and sweetness in their looks. 

EMPLOYMENTS AND DRESS. 

Except when engaged in war, hunting and fishing 
are the sole employment of the men. By means of 
these, by the spontaneous productions of the earth, and 
by a partial cultivation of the soil, they procure a pre- 
carious subsistence : feasting freely when successful in 
the chase, but capable of great abstinence when provi- 
sions are less plentiful. 

Some of the tribes, when first visited by Europeans, 
raised considerable crops ; and they taught the early 
settlers in New England to plant and dress maize. At 
present several nations cultivate maize, beans, pump- 
kins, and water-melons ; and in this way considerably 
increase their means of subsistence. 

Hunting, war, the desire of revenge, or the love of 
amusement, are the usual incitements of the men to ac- 
tion. Subjected to much fatigue and many privations, 
exposed to continual dangers, and under perpetual ap- 
prehensions of being attacked by his enemies, the Indian 
2 



I 



14 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

has little gaiety in his character. He is rather gloomy 
and silent. Grave in his whole deportment, he seldom 
opens his mouth but to utter what he deems important. 
He is sagacious and penetrating ; and his observations 
are often rational and shrewd. He will smile, but rarely 
laughs ; and never indulges in playful sallies, or unne- 
cessary remarks, merely for the sake of talking. He 
generally speaks in a low tone of voice, and employs 
few words, except in council, where his elocution is 
loud, rapid, and vehement. The young men not unfre- 
quently engage keenly in games and amusements. In 
general, the Indians are cool and circumspect, with 
much apparent apathy. 

The squaw is often a perfect contrast to her partner. 
She is sprightly in her demeanour, and her countenance 
is enlivened by a pleasant smile. Her risibility is easily 
excited, and she is not deficient in prattling loquacity. 

The sight, smell, and hearing of the Indians, being 
frequently and attentively exercised, are all remarkably 
acute. They can trace the footsteps of man or beast 
through the forest, and over the plain and mountain, 
where an inexperienced eye cannot discern the slightest 
vestige. They can often judge, with much accuracy, 
how many persons have been in the compaiw, how long 
it is since they passed, and even, at times, to what na- 
tion they belonged. They can pursue their course 
through the pathless forest, or over the snowy moun- 
tain, with undeviating certainty; and are guided by 
marks which entirely escape the notice of an Eu- 
ropean. 

Strangers to letters, and' untutored by learning, their 
passions, which are little curbed by parental authority, 
grow up wild and unpruned, like the trees of their na- 



EMPLOYMENTS AND DRESS OF THE INDIANS. 



15 



tive forests. They are fickle and capricious ; irascible 
and impetuous; kind to their friends, vindictive and 
cruel towards their enemies ; and in order to execute 
their revenge, they readily exercise dissimulation and 
deceit, and shrink from no toil or danger. Their dis- 
tinguishing qualities are strength, cunning, and ferocity ; 
and as war is their first employment, so bravery is their 
first virtue. 

The ancient weapon of the hunter was the bow and 
arrow ; but many of them have now procured muskets. 
Their dress differs considerably in different tribes. It 
consisted originally of skins ; but many of them are 
now provided with blankets and different kinds of cloth. 
The dress of the Konzas, a tribe on the Missouri, may 
serve as a sample. They protect their feet with moc- 
casins, or shoes made of dressed deer, elk, or buffalo 
skin : leggins of deer-skin reach to the upper part of 
the thigh : a breech-cloth passes between the legs, and is 
attached to a girdle fastened round the loins. A blanket 
or skin covers the upper part of the body ; but in warm 
weather it is laid aside. In some tribes the hair is 
allowed to flow loosely over the face and shoulders ; in 
others it is carefully braided, knotted, and ornamented, 
and is always well greased. In many cases the head is 
bare, both in summer and winter ; but in others, both 
men and women w T ear a cap like an inverted bowl 
The men have also a war cap, which they put on as a 
symbol of mourning, or w T hen preparing for battle. It 
is commonly decorated with the feathers of rare birds, 
or with the claws of beavers or eagles, or other similar 
ornaments. A quill or feather is also suspended from 
it for every enemy that the warrior has slain in battle. 
They often suspend from their ea^s wampum beads, 



16 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES, 

silver and tin trinkets, and they are fond of bracelets 
and rings. The face and body are often besmeared 
with a mixture of grease and coal. They are very 
attentive to personal decoration ; and vermilion is an 
important article at their toilet. The faces of the men 
are painted with more care than those of the women ; 
and the latter have more pride in adorning the counte- 
nances of their husbands than their own. A tobacco 
pouch, attached to the girdle or carried in the hand, is 
a usual part of their equipment. The women's dress is 
partly like that of the men ; but their leggins only reach 
to the knee ; they have sleeveless shifts, which come 
down to the ankle, and a mantle covers all. 

On the north-west coast of America, between 52° 
and 53° north latitude, the dress of the natives consists 
of a single robe, tied over the shoulders, falling down 
to the heels behind, and a little below the kneelbefore, 
with a deep fringe round the bottom. It is generally 
made of the bark of the cedar tree, spun like hemp. 
Some of those garments are interwoven with stripes 
of the sea-otter's skin, which gives them the appearance 
of fur on one side : others have stripes of red and yel- 
low threads fancifully introduced towards the borders, 
which produce a very agreeable effect. The men have 
no other covering, and they unceremoniously lay it 
aside whenever it suits their convenience to do so. Be- 
sides the robe, the women have a close fringe hanging 
down before them, and they cut their hair so short "that 
it needs little care or combing : the men have theirs in 
plaits, smeared with grease and red earth, and, instead 
of a comb, they have a small stick, suspended by a 
string from one of the locks, which they employ to 
alleviate any itching or irritation of the head. 



DWELLINGS, FURNITURE, AND FOOD, 



17 



DWELLINGS, FURNITURE, AND FOOD. 

The ivigivams, tents, or lodges of the Indians are dif- 
ferently constructed in different nations. The rudest 
are formed of branches resting against each other at 
the top, covered with leaves or grass, and forming a 
very imperfect shelter against the weather. The na- 
tions on the west of the Rocky Mountains have houses 
formed of a frame of sticks, covered with mats and 
dried grass. Many tribes erect long poles, in a circular 
form at the bottom, and resting against each other at 
the top, which they cover with skins : others have ob- 
long lodges, consisting of a wooden frame, covered 
with grass mats and earth. The light is admitted by a 
small door, and by an aperture in the top, which serves 
also for the escape of the smoke. The fire is in the 
middle of the lodge, and the family sit round it on the 
bare ground: but they spread a skin for a stranger. 
They readily kindle a fire by rapidly turning one piece 
of smooth wood upon another ; but in the vicinitv of 
Europeans, they are now generally provided with flint 
and steel. On the north-west coast, some tribes live in 
houses considerably elevated above the ground, and 
supported by upright posts. 

Their scanty and simple furniture and culinary uten- 
sils are suited to their humble dwellings and homely 
manner of life. A kettle, a wooden bowl, a couple of 
wooden or horn spoons, a few skins for beds and co- 
vers, and a buffalo's stomach for carrying water, are 
the chief articles of domestic accommodation. For- 
merly thev used earthen pots : but these are now gene- 
rally superseded by metallic pots or kettles, purchased 
from the white traders. Some of the tribes on the 

9 * 



18 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

north-west of Lake Superior, cook their victuals in ves- 
sels made of watape, the name given to the split roots 
of the spruce fir. These they weave so closely as to 
contain water, which they raise to the boiling point by 
putting into it a succession of heated stones. 

Many of the tribes are strangers to bread and salt. 
Besides fruits and roots, they feed on the flesh of the 
animals they kill, boiled or roasted. In travelling, pern- 
mican is their favourite food. It consists of flesh cut 
into thin slices, dried in the sun or over a slow fire, beat 
to a coarse powder between two stones, and then care- 
fully packed up. In different nations it is known by 
different names. 

Among the tribes who practise cultivation, maize is 
sometimes roasted in the ashes, and sometimes bruised 
and boiled, and is then called hominey. They also boil 
and eat wild rice, which grows in considerable quanti- 
ties in some parts of the country. They have no fixed 
time for meals, but eat when they are hungry. They 
present food to a stranger, at what time soever he en- 
ters their dwelling. 

MARRIAGE AND EDUCATION. 

Polygamy is not uncommon among them ; and the 
husband occasionally finds it necessary to administer a 
little wholesome castigation to his more quarrelsome or 
refractory squaws. But many are satisfied with one 
wife. The care of the tent and the whole drudgery 
of the family devolve on the women. They gather 
fuel, cook the provisions, and repair every article of 
dress ; cultivate the ground, where any is cultivated ; 
carry the baggage on a journey ; and pitch the tent 
when they halt. In these and similar employments, 



MARRIAGE AND EDUCATION, 



their lordly fathers, husbands, and brothers, think it de- 
grading to assist them, and unworthy of warriors to 
engage in such employments. 

Mr. Catlin, whose long residence among the Indians, 
and careful observation of their habits, entitle his 
opinion to great respect, regards this assignment of 
drudgery to the women as no more than an equitable 
distribution of the labour necessary to the support of 
the household. He considers the toils of war and the 
chase, which are almost incessant, and are solely per- 
formed by the men, as a complete offset to the domestic 
and agricultural cares of the women. On the whole he 
thinks that the condition of the Indian women is as 
comfortable as it is possible to render it by any 
arrangement which would not completely change their 
mode of life. To withdraw the men from the chase 
and confine them to the culture of the ground, would 
render the Indians an agricultural and not a hunting 
people. Still the condition of the Indian woman is a 
miserable and degraded one, — a condition of incessant 
labour and care. 

In none of the tribes do the women experience much 
tenderness ; but among the Sioux they are so harshly 
treated, that they occasionally destroy their female in- 
fants, alleging that it is better for them to be put to 
1 death than to live as miserably as they themselves have 
done. Even suicide is not uncommon among them, 
although they believe it offensive to the Father of Life. 

The Indians never chastise their children, especially 
the boys ; thinking that it would damp their spirits, check 
their love of independence, and cool their martial ar- 
dour, which they wish above all things to encourage. 
" Reason," say they, « will guide our children, when 



20 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

they come to the use of it ; and before that, their faults 
cannot be very great." They avoid compulsory mea- 
sures, and allow the boys to act with uncontrolled free- 
dom ; but endeavour, by example, instruction, and ad- 
vice, to train them to diligence and skill in hunting ; to 
animate them with patience, courage, and fortitude in 
war ; and to inspire them with contempt of danger, 
pain, and death, — qualities of the highest order in the 
estimation of an Indian. 

By gentleness and persuasion they endeavour to im- 
bue the minds of their children with virtuous sentiments, 
according to their notions of virtue. The aged chiefs 
are zealous in this patriotic labour, and the squaws give 
their cordial co-operation. 

Ishuchenau, an old Kanza warrior, often admonished 
the group of young auditors who gathered around him, 
of their faults, and exhorted them never to tell a lie, and 
never to steal, except from an enemy, whom it is just 
to injure in every possible way. "When you become 
men," said he, " be brave and cunning in war, and de- 
fend your hunting grounds against all encroachments : 
never suffer your squaws and little ones to want ; pro- 
tect them and strangers from insult. On no occasion 
betray a friend ; be revenged on your enemies ; drink 
not the poisonous strong water of the white people, for 
it is sent by the bad spirit to destroy the Indians. Fear 
not death : none but cowards fear to die. Obey and 
venerate old people, particularly your parents. Year 
and propitiate the bad spirit, that he may do you no 
harm : love and adore the Good Spirit, who made us 
all, who supplies our hunting grounds, and keeps all 
alive." After recounting his achievements, he was 
wont to add, "Like a decayed prairie tree, I stand 



MARRIAGE AND EDUCATION. 



21 



alone : — the friends of my youth, the companions of 
my sports, my toils, and my dangers, rest their heads 
on the bosom of our mother. My sun is fast descending 
behind the western hills, and I feel it will soon be night 
with me." Then with hands and eyes lifted towards 
heaven, he thanked the Great Spirit for having spared 
him so long, to show the young men the true path to 
glory and fame. 

Their opinions, in many instances, are false, and lead 
to corresponding errors in conduct. In some tribes, the 
young person is taught to pray, with various supersti- 
tious observances, that he may be a great hunter, horse- 
stealer, and warrior ; so that thus the fountain of virtue 
is polluted. 

The Indians are entirely unacquainted with letters ; 
but they have a kind of picture writing, which they 
practise on the inside of the bark of trees, or on skins 
prepared for the purpose, and by which they can com- 
municate the knowledge of many facts to each other. 

The Indian names are descriptive of the real or sup- 
posed qualities of the persons to whom they belong: 
they often change them in the course of their lives. 
The young warrior is ambitious of acquiring a new 
name ; and stealing a horse, scalping an enemy, or kill- 
ing a bear, is an achievement which entitles him to 
choose one for himself, and the nation confirms it. 

* The Indian women are industrious wives and affec- 
tionate mothers. They are attentive to the comfort of 
their husbands, watch over their children with the ut- 
most care and tenderness ; and if they die, lament the 
loss in the most affecting manner. 

Chastity is not reckoned a virtue ; and, as the women 
are considered the property of the men, a deviation 



22 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

from it, with the consent of the father, husband, or bro- 
ther, is not looked on as an offence. Nay, to counte- 
nance their wives, sisters, or daughters, in conferring 
favours on strangers, is considered a strong expression 
of hospitality ; and the refusal of the proffered kindness 
is regarded by the lady as an unpardonable insult. But 
some husbands, on discovering unauthorized conjugal 
infidelity, punish it with severity ; others treat it very 
lightly. 

The Indians are kind and hospitable to their friends, 
and to those who are introduced to them in that char- 
acter. Although they themselves sit on the bare ground, 
yet they courteously spread a buffalo skin for their 
visiter ; smoke a pipe with him in token of peace and 
amity ; and the squaw prepares something for him to 
eat. They have little selfishness, and are ready to share 
their last morsel with their friends. 

MEDICINE AND SORCERY. 

They are immoderately addicted to intoxicating 
liquors, which they procure from the white traders, and 
which have been the means of destroying multitudes of 
them. Before their intercourse with white men they 
had no intoxicating beverage ; and, excepting the liquor 
which they procure from the merchants, their meals are 
temperate, and their habits of life active. Their dis- 
eases are few, and seldom of long duration. Many of 
them fall in battle; and multitudes are occasionally 
swept away by small-pox. To the healing art they are 
in a great measure strangers ; although, by means of 
simples, they in some instances perform surprising 
cures. In general, however, these pretenders to medical 
skill are mere quacks and jugglers, who affect to chase 



MEDICINE AND SORCERY. 



23 



away disease by howling, blowing on the patient, and 
by various incantations, sleight-of-hand performances, 
and superstitious rites. 

Some of their medicine-men or conjurors, who are 
their only doctors, pretend to have seen the Great Spi- 
rit, and to have conversed with him in some visible 
form, as of a buffalo, beaver, or other animal; and to 
have received from him some medicine of peculiar effi- 
cacy. The animal whose form had appeared is con- 
sidered to be the remedy; and they imitate its cry in 
making their medical applications. The medicine bag, 
in which these savage physicians have a few herbs, en- 
tire or pulverized, and which they administer with a 
little warm water, is an indispensable requisite in Indian 
medical practice. Indeed, the head of every family has 
his medicine bag, which is a place of sacred deposit, 
and to the sanctity of which he commits his most pre- 
cious articles. The value of its contents an Indian only 
can appreciate. 

In every stage of society, persons appear who ac- 
commodate themselves to the state of the public mind. 
Of this description are the jugglers, conjurors, or 
powahs, among the ignorant and superstitious Indians. 
They are partly medical quacks, partly religious im- 
postors. Many of them are dexterous jugglers and 
cunning cheats. They pretend to foretell future events, 
and even to influence the weather. It is likely that they 
are often, in some measure, the dupes of their own 
artifices. 

The sweating-houses of the Indians are often em- 
ployed for medical purposes, although they are places 
of social recreation also. A hole is dug in the ground, 
and over it is built a small close hut, with an opening 



24 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

just large enough to admit the patient. A number of 
heated stones are placed in the bottom of the hole. The 
patient enters, having a vessel full of water along with 
him ; and being seated on a place prepared for his re- 
ception, the entrance is closed. He sprinkles water on 
the heated stones, and is soon, by the steam, thrown 
into a state of profuse perspiration. After this has con- 
tinued for some time, the person is taken out and 
plunged into cold water. This process is repeated seve- 
ral times, always ending with the steam-bath. The In- 
dians use this as a general remedy ; but its salutary 
effects are experienced chiefly in rheumatic diseases, in 
which its efficacy is at times very great. 

The Indians bear disease with composure and re- 
signation ; and when far advanced in life, often long for 
the hour of dissolution. "It is better," said an aged 
sachem, « to sit than to stand, to sleep than to be awake, 
to be dead than alive." The dying man exhorts his 
children to be industrious, kind to their friends, but. im- 
placable to their enemies. He rejoices in the hope of 
immortality. He is going to the land of spirits, that 
happy place where there is plenty of game and no 
want, — where the path is smooth and the sky clear. 

BURIAL CEREMOXIES, MOURXING, &c. 

When the sick person expires, the friends assemble 
round the body, the women weep and clap their hands, 
and bewail their loss with loud lamentations. Different 
nations dispose of the bodies of departed friends, and 
express their grief, in different wavs. Many Indian 
tribes bury their dead soon after death. They wrap up 
the body carefully in a buffalo robe, or dressed skin, and 
carry it to the grave on the shoulders of two or three 



BURIAL CEREMONIES AND MOURNING. 25 



men. Along with the body they bury a pair or two of 
moccasins, some meat, and other articles, to be used on 
the journey to the town of brave spirits, which they 
generally believe lies towards the setting sun. The 
■ favourite weapons and utensils of the warrior are also 
deposited by his side. It is believed that unless this be 
done, the spirit of the deceased appears among the trees 
near his lodge, and does not go to its rest till the pro- 
perty withheld be committed to the grave. In some 
places they discharge muskets, make a noise, and vio- 
lently strike the trees, in order to drive away the spirit, 
which they imagine fondly lingers near its old abode. 
A mound is sometimes raised over the grave, propor- 
tioned in size to the dignity of the deceased ; or the 
place is marked out and secured by short sticks driven 
into the ground over and around it. Some of those 
graves are commonly near each of their villages. 

The tribes on the Columbia construct long narrow 
sheds, in which they deposit the dead, carefully wrapped 
up in skins, and covered with mats. The Killamucks, 
a tribe living near the shore of the Pacific Ocean, on 
the south of the Columbia, inclose their dead in an ob- 
long wooden box, which they place in an open canoe, 
lying on the ground, with a paddle and some other arti- 
cles of the deceased by his side. The Chinooks, Clat- 
sops, and neighbouring nations, support the canoe on 
posts, about six feet from the ground, and reverse a 
larger canoe over it. The w T hole is wrapped up in mats 
made of rushes, and fastened with cords, usually made 
of the bark of white cedar. But instead of laying the 
body in a box like the Killamucks, they roll it carefully 
in a dressed skin. Vancouver saw canoes, containing 
dead bodies, suspended from the branches of trees, 
3 



26 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

about twelve feet fro m the ground. The Chopunnish, a 
tnbe ^ on the western side of the Rocky Mountain, 

ZT* TV 0 u Urjing plaCGS constr ^ted of boards, 
ke the roof of a house. The bodies are rolled in skins, 
M over each other, and separated by a board above 
and below. They devote horses, canoes, and other 
kinds of property, to the dead. Carver mentions some 
tnbes on the St. Peter's which annually carrv their dead 
for mterment to a cave on the banks of the Mississippi. 
It appears that some others occasionally burn the dead 
or at least the flesh, and afterwards bury the bones. 

On the death of a relation, the survivors give way to 
excessive grief, bedaub themselves with white clay, 
blacken their faces, cut off their hair, and not unfre- 
quently mangle themselves in a shocking manner, thrust- 
mg knives or arrows into the muscular parts of their 
thighs or arms, or cutting off a joint of one of their 
fingers For a while they nightly repair to the place 
of sepulture to give expression to their grief; and may 
occasionally be seen affectionately plucking the grass 
from the grave of a deceased relation or friend 

Among those tribes in the extreme northern parts of 
the continent where provisions are scarce, and pro- 
cured with difficulty, it is not uncommon for an aLd 
person who is unable to provide for himself, to request 
his family to put him to death ; and the^equest is com- 
plied with, or he is treated with much neglect. But this 
unnatural conduct results entirely from the pressure of 
circumstances, and the privations and sufferings to 
which those poor people are exposed; for in more 
favourable situations they behave towards the aged 
and infirm with respect and tenderness. 



RELIGION. 



27 



RELIGION. 

Of the religion of the Indians we have no full and 
clear account. Indeed, of the opinions of a people who 
have nothing more than a few vague and indefinite no- 
tions, no distinct explanation can be given. On this 
subject the Indians are not communicative ; and to ob- 
tain a thorough knowledge of it would require familiar, 
attentive, unsuspected, and unprejudiced observation. 
But such observation is not easily made ; and a few 
general, and on some points uncertain, notices only can 
be given. 

On looking at the most renowned nations of the an- 
cient heathen world, we see the people prostrating 
themselves before innumerable divinities ; and we are 
ready to conclude that polytheism is the natural belief 
of man, unenlightened by revelation. But a survey of 
the vast w T ilds of America will correct this opinion. For 
there we find a multitude of nations, widely separated 
from each other, all believing in One Supreme God, a 
great and good spirit, the father and master of life, the 
maker of heaven and earth, and of all other creatures. 
They believe themselves entirely dependent on him, 
thank him for present enjoyments, and pray to him for 
the good things they desire to obtain. They consider 
him the author of all good ; and believe he will reward 
or punish them according to their deeds. 

They believe in inferior spirits also, both good and 
bad ; to whom, particularly to the good, they give the 
name of Manitou, and consider them tutelary spirits. 
The Indians are careful observers of dreams, and think 
themselves deserted by the Master of life, till they re- 
ceive a manitou in a dream ; that is, till they dream of 



28 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

some object, as a buffalo or beaver, or something else, 
which they think is an intimation that the Great°Spirit 
has given them that object as a manitou, or medicine. 
Then they are full of courage, and proud of their pow- 
erful ally. To propitiate the manitou, or medicine, 
every exertion is made, and every personal considera- 
tion sacrificed. « I was lately the proprietor of seven- 
teen horses," said a Mandan; « but I have offered them 
all to my medicine, and am now poor." He had turned 
all these horses, which constituted the whole of his 
wealth, loose into the plain, committed them to his me- 
dicine, and abandoned them for ever. But, although 
they offer oblations to the manitous, they positively deny 
that they pay them any adoration, and affirm that they 
only worship the Great Spirit through them. 

They have no regular periodical times either of pri- 
vate or public religious worship. They have neither 
temples, altars, stated ministers of religion, nor regular 
sacrifices ; for the jugglers are connected rather with 
the medical art than with religious services. The In- 
dians in general, like other ignorant people, are be- 
lievers in witchcraft, and think many of their diseases 
proceed from the arts of sorcerers. These arts the]ucr. 
glers pretend to counteract, as well as to cure natural 
diseases. They also pretend to predict the weather and 
to make rain ; and much confidence is placed in their 
prognostications and their power. 
_ The devotional exercises of the Indians consist in 
singing, dancing, and performing various mystical cere- 
monies, which they believe efficacious in healing the 
sick, frustrating the designs of their enemies, and se- 
curing their own success. They often offer up to the 
Great Spirit a part of the game first taken in a hunting 



RELIGION. 



29 



expedition, a part of the first produce of their fields, 
and a part of their food, At a feast, they first throw 
some of the broth, and then of the meat, into the fire. 
In smoking, they generally testify their reverence for 
the Master of life, by directing the first puff upwards, 
and the second downwards, or the first to the rising, 
and the second to the setting sun : at other times they 
turn the pipe to every point of the compass. 

They firmly believe in the immortality of the soul, 
and in a state of future retribution: but their concep- 
tions on these subjects are modified and tinged by their 
occupations in life, and by their notions of good and evil. 
They suppose the spirit retain^ the same inclinations as 
when in the body, and rejoices in its old pursuits. At 
times, an Indian warrior, when about to kill and scalp 
a prostrate enemy, addresses him in such terms as the 
following : — 

" My name is Cashegra : I am a famous warrior, 
and am going to kill you. When you reach the land 
of spirits, you will see the ghost of my father : tell him 
it was Cashegra sent you there." The uplifted toma- 
hawk then descends upon his victim. 

The *Mandans expected, when they died, to return to 
the original subterraneous abode of their fathers: the 
good reaching the ancient village by means of the lake, 
which the weight of the sins of the bad will render 
them unable to pass. They who have behaved them- 
selves well in this life, and been brave warriors and 
good hunters, will be received into the town of brave 
and generous spirits; but the useless and selfish will 



* The Mandan tribe is now entirely extinct. — Catlin. 
3* 



30 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

be doomed to reside in the town of poor and useless 
spirits. 

The belief of those untutored children of nature has 
an influence on their conduct. Among them the grand 
defect is, an erroneous estimate of good and evil, right 
and wrong. But how much soever we may lament their 
errors on these interesting points, we need not be sur- 
{ prised at them ; for how many, even in more enlightened 
I communities, and with clearer means of information, 
can scarcely be said to have sounder principles, or a 
better practice ? A reverential and grateful sense of the 
divine perfections and government, manifesting itself by 
a devout regard to his institutions, and obedience to his 
will, by benevolence, integrity, candour, and kindness 
towards men, and by sobriety and industry, is too little 
valued and practised by many who enjoy the light of 
revelation. Hitherto the Indians have learned little but 
vice by their intercourse with white men. 

Although they have no regular system of religious 
worship, yet they have many superstitious notions; 
some of them of a more general, others of a more local 
nature. The Mandans had their medicine stone, which 
was their great oracle; and they believed with implicit 
confidence whatever it announced. Every spring, and 
occasionally during summer, a deputation, accompanied 
by jugglers, magicians, or conjurors, visited the sacred 
spot, where there is a large stone, about twenty feet in 
circumference, with a smooth surface: there the depu- 
ties smoked, taking a few whiffs themselves, and then, 
ceremoniously offering the pipe to the stone. They left 
their presents, and withdrew to some distance during 
the night. Before morning the presents disappeared, 
the Great Spirit having, according to their belief, taken 



RELIGION. 31 

them away ; and they read the destinies of their nation 
in some marks on the stone, which the jugglers, who 
made them, and secretly managed the whole transaction^ 
could easily decipher. The Minnetarees have also a 
stone of the same kind. 

On the northern bank of the lower part of the Mis- 
souri there is a singular range of rocks, rising almost 
perpendicularly about 200 or 300 feet above the level 
of the river. These rocks the Indians call Manitou; 
and on or near them the neighbouring nations deposit 
most of their offerings to the Great Spirit or Father of 
Life ; because they imagine he either inhabits or fre- 
quently visits those rocks, and offerings presented there 
will sooner attract his notice and gain his favour than 
any where else. Those offerings consist of various 
articles, among which eagles' feathers are held in high- 
est estimation ; and they are presented in order to obtain 
success in war or hunting. 

They believe also in the existence of evil spirits ; 
but think these malevolent beings gratify their malignity 
chiefly by driving away the game, preventing the effi- 
cacy of medicine, or similar injuries. But they do not 
always confine their operations to such petty mischiefs ; 
for Mackenzie, in his first voyage, was warned of a 
manitou, or spirit, behind a neighbouring island, which 
swallowed up every person who approached it: and, 
near the White Stone river of the Missouri there is an 
oblong mound, about seventy feet high, called by the 
Indians the Mountain of Little people, or Little Spirits, 
which are supposed to be malignant beings in human 
shape, about eighteen inches high, with remarkably 
large heads. They are provided w T ith sharp arrows, in 
the use of which they are very expert ; and they are 



82 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

always on the watch to kill those who approach the 
mountain of their residence. The tradition is that many- 
persons have fallen victims to their malevolence ; and 
such is the terror of them among the neighbouring 
nations, that on no consideration will they approach the 
mound. 

GOVERNMENT. 

Among the Indians, society is in the loosest state in 
which it can possibly exist. They have no regular 
magistrates, no laws, no tribunals, to protect the weak 
or punish the guilty. Every man must assert his own 
rights, and avenge his own wrongs. He is neither 
restrained nor protected by any thing but a sense of 
shame, and the approbation or disapprobation of his 
tribe. He acknowledges no master, and submits to no 
superior authority ; so that an Indian community seems 
like a mound of sand on the sea-shore, which one gale 
has accumulated, and which the next may disperse. 

But, amid this apparent disunion, the Indian is strong- 
ly attached to his nation. He is jealous of its honour, 
proud of its success, and zealous for its welfare. Guided 
by a few traditionary notions, and by the opinion and 
example of those around him, he is ready to exert all 
his energies, and sacrifice even life itself for his country. 
Here sentiment and habit do more than wise laws can 
elsewhere accomplish. 

Where all are equally poor, the distinctions founded 
on wealth cannot exist; and among a people where 
experience is the only source of knowledge, the 'aged 
men are naturally the sages of the nation. Surrounded 
by enemies, and exposed to continual peril, the strongest, 
boldest, and most successful warrior, is highly respected; 
and the influence gained in youth by courage and enter- 



GOVERNMENT. 33 

prise is often retained in old age by wisdom and elo- 
quence. In many of the tribes, the sachems or chiefs 
have a sort of hereditary rank ; but, in order to main- 
tain it, they must conciliate the good will of the most 
influential persons of the community. They have 
nothing like monarchial revenues, pomp, or authority ; 
but maintain their distinction by bravery, good conduct, 
and generosity. 

The most important concerns of the tribe are dis- 
cussed in a council composed of the chiefs and warriors, 
in which the principal chief presides. Every member 
delivers his opinion with freedom, and is heard with 
attention. Their proceedings are considered sacred, and 
are kept a profound secret, unless it be thought the pub- 
lic good requires a disclosure. In that case the decision, 
with the reasons on which it is founded, is published by 
a member of the council, who recommends a compliance 
with it. In the stillness of the morning or evening this 
herald marches through the village, solemnly communi- 
cating the information, and giving suitable exhortations. 
He also instructs the young men and children how to 
behave, in order to gain the esteem of good men, and 
the approbation of the Good Spirit. 

The authority of the chiefs and warriors is hortatory 
rather than coercive. They have influence to persuade, 
but not power to compel. They are rather respected as 
parents and friends, than feared and obeyed as superiors. 
The chief is merely the most confidential person among 
the warriors ; neither installed with any ceremony, nor 
distinguished by any badge. He may recommend, or 
advise, or influence ; but he has no power to enforce his 
commands, or to punish disobedience. In many of the 
tribes he gradually acquires his rank by his awn supe- 



34 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

rior merit, and the good opinion of his companions , 
and he may lose his authority as he gained it. 

The people commonly settle their controversies among 
themselves, and do not apply to their chiefs, except for 
advice. In some of the tribes peace is preserved, and 
punishment inflicted in a very summary manner by offi- 
cers appointed by the chief for that purpose. These 
officers are distinguished by having their bodies black- 
ened, and by having two or three ravens' skins fixed in 
their girdles behind, so that the tails project horizontally. 
They have also a raven's skin, with the tail projecting 
from their forehead. These officers, of whom there 
are two or three in a village, and who are frequently 
changed, beat any person whom they find acting in a 
disorderly manner. Their authority is held sacred, and 
none dares resist them. They often attend the chief, 
and consider it a point of honour to execute his orders 
at any risk. 

ELOQUENCE. 

The eloquence of the Indian orators occasionally dis- 
plays itself in strong and figurative expressions, accom- 
panied with violent but not unnatural gesticulations. 
Many of their speeches are on record ; and we shall 
give two of them, as a specimen of the manner in which 
these untaught children of nature express themselves. 

The first is that of Logan. In the year 1774, the 
family of Logan, a distinguished chief, who had always 
been friendly to white men, was inhumanly massacred 
by a detachment of Virginia militia, acting under British 
authority. Logan was highly exasperated, and joined 
the hostile tribes. The Indians were defeated, and com- 
pelled to sue for peace. But Logan scorned to be seen 
among the suppliants. Lest, however, the sincerity of a 



ELOQUENCE. 35 

treaty from which such an eminent chief absented him- 
self should be suspected, he sent the following speech, 
by general Gibson, to Lord Dunmore, governor of the 
province: — "I appeal to any white man to say if ever 
he entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him no 
meat ; if ever he came cold and naked and he clothed 
him not. During the course of the last long and bloody 
war, Logan remained idle in his lodge, the advocate of 
peace. Such was my love of the whites, that my coun- 
trymen pointed at me as they passed, and said, 6 Logan 
is the friend of white men.' I had even thought to have 

I 

lived with you, but for the injuries of one man. Last 
spring, colonel Cresap, in cold blood, and unprovoked, 
murdered all the relations of Logan, not sparing even 
my women and children. There runs not a drop of my 
blood in the veins of any living creature. This called 
on me for revenge. I have sought it. I have killed 
many. I have glutted my vengeance. For my country 
I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not think mine 
is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. Logan will 
not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to 
mourn the death of Logan ? Not one." 

The second speech is that of a Pawnee chief, named 
Sharitarouish ; and we introduce it merely because it is 
recent, having been addressed to the president of the 
United States, in council, on the 4th of February, 1S22 ; 
and because the chief who delivered it, on account of 
his remote situation, could have had little intercourse 
with white men, having been, along with other chiefs, 
conducted from the banks of the Platte to Washington, 
by major OTallon, agent of the States among the In- 
dians of the Missouri. He spoke to the president as 
follows : — 



36 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

" My great father, I have travelled a great way to see 
you: I have seen you, and my heart rejoices. I have 
heard your words : they have entered one ear, and shall 
not escape by the other. I will carry them to my people 
as pure as they came from your mouth. 

" My great father, I am going to speak the truth. The 
Great Spirit looks down upon us ; and I call him to 
witness all that may pass between us on this occasion. 
If I am here now, and have seen your people, your 
houses, your vessels on the big lake, and a great many 
wonderful things, far beyond my comprehension, which 
appear to have been made by the Great Spirit, and 
placed in your hands, I am indebted to my father here, 
(pointing to major O'Fallon,) who invited me from home, 
and under whose wings I have been protected. Yes, 
my great father, I have travelled with your chief; I 
have followed him, and trodden in his tracks. But there 
is still another great Father, to whom I am much in- 
debted. He is the Father of us all. He made us, and 
placed us on this earth. I feel grateful to the Great 
Spirit for strengthening my heart for such an under- 
taking, and for preserving the life which he gave me. 
The Great Spirit made us all. He made my skin red, 
and yours white. He placed us on this earth, and in- 
tended that we should live differently from each other. 
He made the whites to cultivate the earth, and feed on 
domestic animals ; but he made us red skins to rove 
through the uncultivated woods and plains, to feed on 
wild animals, and to clothe ourselves with their skins. 
He intended also that we should go to war, take scalps, 
steal horses from our enemies, and triumph over them, 
and that we should cultivate peace at home, and pro- 
mote the happiness of each other. I believe there are 



ELOQUENCE. 37 

no people, of any colour, on earth, who do not believe 
in the Great Spirit, and in rewards and punishments. 
We worship Hoc : but we worship him not as you clo. 
We differ from you in appearance and manners, as well 
as in our customs ; and we differ from you in our reli- 
gion. We have no large houses, as you have, to wor- 
ship the Great Spirit in. If we had them to-day, we 
should want them to-morrow : for we have not, like you, 
a fixed habitation. We have no settled home, except 
our villages, where we remain but two moons in twelve. 
We, like the animals, rove through the country ; while 
you whites reside between us and heaven. But still, 
my great father, we love the Great Spirit ; we ac- 
knowledge his supreme power. Our peace, health, and 
happiness depend upon him ; and our lives belong to 
him. He made us, and he can destroy us. 

" My great father, some of your good chiefs, as they 
are called (the missionaries), have proposed to send some 
of their good people among us, to change our habits, to 
make us work, and live like the white people. I will not 
tell a lie ; I am going to speak the truth. You love your 
country; you love your people ; you love the manner in 
which they live ; and you think your people brave. I 
am like you, my great father : I love my country ; I 
love my people; I love the manner in which we live; 
and I think myself and my warriors brave. Spare me, 
then, my father ; let me enjoy my country, and pursue 
the buffalo and the beaver, and other wild animals and 
with their skins I will trade with your people. I have 
grown up, and lived thus long, without working : I hope 
you, will suffer me to die without it. We have plenty 
of buffalo, beaver, deer, and other wild animals; we 
have also abundance of horses ; we have every thing 
4 



SS ivziax wars m the dm 



TA VE : 



we want : we have plenty of land, if you will keep 
people off it. My father (Major OTallon) has a 1 
of land, on which he lives (Council Bluffs), and we 
him to enjoy it : we have enough without it. We 
him to live near us, to give us ^ood counsel, to 
our ears and eyes open, that we may continue to pi 
the right road, the road to happiness. He settle 
differences between us and the whites, and betweei 
red skins themselves. He makes the red skins do 
tice to the whites : he saves the effusion of hu 
blood ; and preserves peace and happiness in the 1 
You have already sent us a father. It is enough, 
knows us, and we know him : we have confident 
him : we keep our eve constantly upon him : and s 
we have heard your words we will listen more a' 



Hp 



" It is too soon, my great father, to send th 
men among us. We are not starving yet; 
you to permit us to enjoy the chase until the 
our country be exhausted : until the wild ani 
come extinct. Let us exhaust our present r 

Let me continue to live as I have done : am 
have passed to the Good or Evil Spirit fror. 
wilderness of my present life, the subsistenci 
children may become so precarious as to l 
embrace the assistance of those food people. 

whites. Our wants were then fewer than 
now ? they were always within our control : 
seen nothing which we could not get. Be: 
intercourse with the whites, who have caused 
destruction in our game, we ^ould lie down i 



WAR, CUSTOMS, ARMS, &r. 



39 



and when we awoke, we found the buffalo feeding 
round our camp : but now we kill them for their skins, 
and feed the wolves with their flesh, to make our chil- 
dren cry over their bones. 

"Here, my great father, is a pipe, which I present 
you, as I am accustomed to present pipes to all the red 
skins in peace with us. It is filled with such tobacco 
as we were accustomed to smoke before we knew the 
white people. It is pleasant, and the spontaneous 
growth of the most remote parts of our country. I 
know that the robes, leggins, moccasins, bear-claws, 
and other articles, are of little value to you ; but we 
wish you to deposit and preserve them in some con- 
spicuous part of your lodge, so that when we are gone 
and the sod turned over our bones, if our children 
should visit this place, as we do now, they may see 
and recognise with pleasure the deposits of their 
fathers, and reflect on the times that are past."' 

WAR, CUSTOMS, ARMS. &c. 

The form of government among the Indian tribes is 
not sufficiently strong to restrain the young warriors 
from the commission of excesses and outrages, which 
often involve the nation in protracted wars ; and the 
chiefs, desirous as they may be of checking those im- 
petuous and refractory spirits, have not the power. 

Their wars most commonly originate in the stealing 
of horses, or in the elopement of squaws ; sometimes in 
encroachments on their hunting grounds, or in the pro- 
secution of old quarrels, and the desire of avenging the 
murder of relations. These wars are conducted in a 
predatory manner. 



40 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

A single warrior sometimes undertakes an expedition 
against the enemy; but, in cases of great provocation, 
the whole tribe engages in the enterprise, under the 
conduct of the principal chief. Even in this case, how- 
ever, none but volunteers join the army: no one is 
obliged to march against his will. 

War is often carried on by a small predatory party, 
formed by the influence of some approved warrior. 
This warrior paints himself with white clay, and 
marches through the village, crying aloud to the Wah- 
conda, or Father of life, and entreating the young war- 
riors of the nation to have pity on him, and to accom- 
pany him in an expedition against their enemies. He 
gives a feast to those who are willing to follow him ; 
and it is distinctly understood that they who partake 
of his hospitality, pledge themselves to be partners in 
his enterprise. At the feast, he harangues them, and 
tells them they must gain celebrity by their martial 
prowess. This leader of the party, to whom the French 
gave the name of partisan, busies himself, before setting 
out, in making medicine, hanging out his medicine bag^ 
fasting, attending to his dreams, and other superstitious 
observances. On the medicine bag much reliance is 
placed for the successful termination of the adventure. 
It usually contains the skin of a sparrow-hawk, and a 
number of small articles, such as wampum beads and 
tobacco, all attached to a belt, neatly enveloped in bark, 
and tied round with strings of the same material. It is 
of a cylindrical shape, about one, or sometimes two 
feet long, and is suspended on the back of the partisan 
by its belt, which passes round his neck. The mocca- 
sins, leggins, and arms of the party are put in order, 



WAR, CUSTOMS, ARMS. 41 

and each warrior furnishes himself with some provi- 
sions. 

With the partisan at their head, the party set out, 
march cautiously, following each other in a line, at a 
distance of two or three paces, often treading in each 
other's footsteps, that their number may not be disco- 
vered ; and they send out spies to explore their route. 
They easily find out whether any persons have lately 
passed the same way, by discerning their footsteps on 
the grass ; and as they have to deal with people whose 
organs of sense are as acute as their own, they are 
careful, as far as possible, to conceal their own tracks. 
On halting, the medicine bag is not allowed to touch 
the ground, but is suspended on a forked stick, firmly 
fixed in the earth for that purpose. They smoke to it, 
occasionally turning the stem of the pipe towards it,' 
towards the heavens, and towards the earth. The par- 
tisan carefully attends to his dreams, and, if he think 
them ominous of evil, he at times abandons the en- 
terprise. 

When the spies bring information that they are near 
the enemy, the partisan opens his medicine bag, re- 
moves its barky envelope, and suspends the contents 
from his neck, with the bird skin, wampum, and other 
articles, hanging down on his breast. This is the sig- 
nal to prepare for action. If they have time, they paint 
themselves, and smoke; they also paint their shields 
with rude representations of the objects on which they 
rely for success. The partisan gives the order to ad- 
vance, and they move on with cautious steps, as their 
great aim is to fall upon the enemy by surprise. If they 
succeed in this, the attack begins with the horrible yell 
of the war whoop. This is their only martial music. 



4* 



42 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

They kill indiscriminately all who fall in their way; but 
if discovered, they either make a hasty retreat, or rush 
to the attack with impetuous but disorderly fury, If in 
the forest, they shelter themselves behind trees ; if on 
open ground, they leap nimbly from side to side, to pre- 
vent the enemy from taking a steady aim, and cover 
themselves with their bucklers. 

It is not the mere killing of an enemy that confers 
the highest honour on an Indian warrior, but the 
striking the body of his fallen foe on the field of battle, 
and in presence of his friends, who are eager to avenge 
his death. Scalping is an act of no small celebrity hi 
Indian warfare ; and, in performing it, the victor sets 
one foot on the neck of his dead or disabled enemy, en- 
twines one hand in his hair, and, by a few slashes of 
the scalping-knife in his other, round the top of the 
head, is enabled to pull off the skin with the hair. Car- 
rying away the scalp is simply a mark of victory: the 
taking of prisoners is reckoned a high honour. 

The wounded of the vanquished party are killed by 
the conquerors on the field of battle, and their bodies 
shockingly mangled : the squaws so far overcoming by 
habit the tender feelings of the female breast as to take 
an active part in the inhuman scene. 

In his lodge, the Indian is indolent, sedate, and appa- 
rently callous: but in hunting, or in quest of an enemy, 
he is keen, indefatigable, persevering : on the field of 
battle he seems an infuriated demon : so different are . 
his appearances in different circumstances. The vic- 
torious party bury their dead, or cover them with bushes 
or stones. They remove their wounded in litters, borne 
on men's shoulders; or, if they have horses, on a car 
of two shafts, with a buffalo skin stretched between 



WAR, CUSTOMS, ARMS. 43 

them. They return rapidly to their village, nnd com- 
monly halt on some elevated ground in its vicinity. 
Their friends, eager to be informed of the particulars 
of the expedition, hasten to meet them. The party en- 
ters the village with savage pomp, ostentatiously ex- 
hibiting the scalps which they have taken raised on 
poles. Many of the warriors bear the mark indicative 
of having drunk the blood of an enemy. This consists 
in rubbing the hand all over with vermilion, and then 
pressing it on the face and mouth, so as to leave a com- 
plete impression. ~ On those occasions, the wives of the 
warriors who have been engaged in the enterprise attire 
themselves in the dress of their husbands, and, with 
rods in their hands, to which the scalps that have been 
taken are attached, dance round a large red post, and, 
in concert with the young warriors, sing the war and 
scalp songs. This barbarous dance, which is repeated 
every night for some weeks, is charming to the squaws ; 
a circumstance which shows how far the human char- 
acter may be perverted by fashion and habit. 

The Indians dance and sing at the same time: they 
have, however, but little grace or variety in their move- 
ments, and little music in their notes. Their musical 
instruments are a sort of drum, and a rattle or skin 
bag, with small shot or pebbles in it, which makes a 
noise when shaken. 

It is dangerous to meet a disappointed or defeated 
war party on its return, as the warriors are apt to in- 
demnify themselves for any disappointment, defeat, or 
loss they may have sustained, by taking the property 
and scalps of the first weak or unguarded party they 
may encounter. 

No offence against society is inquired into by the 



44 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES, 

chiefs : stealing from one of their own tribe, which is 
very rare, exposes the thief to contempt ; but cowardice 
is marked by the highest reprobation. When they go 
to war, they keep a watchful eye on such of the young 
men as are making their first essay in arms. If they 
display the necessary qualifications, thev are in due 
time admitted to the rank of warriors, or, as they ex- 
press it, of braves, or brave men. But if anv give clear 
indications of cowardice, on the return of the party 
they are treated with neglect and contempt. A coward 
is at times punished even with death. 

The female prisoners are made slaves, a condition 
scarcely worse than that of the other squaws. The 
young male prisoners are often adopted by the families 
of the tribe which have taken them, and supply the 
place of the members that have fallen in the expedi- 
tion. Sometimes, on returning to their village, the party 
show their prisoner a painted red post, distant from 
twenty to forty yards, and bid him run and lav hold of 
it. On each side of his course stand men and women 
with axes, sticks, and other offensive weapons, readv to 
strike him as he passes. If he instantly spring forward 
with agility, he may perhaps reach the post without re- 
ceiving a stroke, and is then safe, till a general council 
of the warriors determine his fate ; but if he fall, he is 
generally dispatched. 

If the prisoner be rejected by the family to which he 
is offered, he is then put to death with every circum- 
stance of cruelty ; and the constancy and fortitude of 
the sufferer are as remarkable as the barbarity of his 
murderers. The victim, fastened to a stake, sings his 
death song, insults his tormentors, bears with unshrink- 
ing firmness the most dreadful tortures, and expiies 



WAR, CUSTOMS, ARMS. 45 

without a groan. He triumphs in his fortitude, not 
merely as a personal virtue, but chiefly as a national 
characteristic. We are to seek the cause of this patient 
endurance of the most excruciating pains, not in any 
nervous insensibility, any constitutional apathy, any 
muscular rigidity of the Indian, but in the sentiments 
which he has imbibed, and the habits to which he has 
been trained. He has been taught, from infancy, to 
consider courage and fortitude as the glory of man : to 
endure privations and pain without a murmur, and with 
an unsubdued heart, and to despise tortures and death ; 
and, in his last moments, he proves the efficacy of the 
education which he has received. In these tragical 
scenes the women often take an active part ; and their 
inhumanity, like the fortitude of the men, springs from 
education. 

Previous to their intercourse with Europeans, the 
arms of the Indians were bows and arrows, spears, 
tomahawks, scalping knives, and war clubs. Most of 
them, however, are now provided with fire-arms ; and, 
being eager to procure them, their quantity is continually 
increasing. But the use of these original weapons 
is far from being entirely superseded. 

At times the bow is formed of pieces of horn neatly 
spliced, but it is more commonly made of wood. For- 
merly the arrow was pointed with flint or bone, but 
now generally with iron : the spear is pointed in a simi- 
lar manner. The tomahawk is a hatchet or war axe. 
The scalping knife is used to cut and tear off the scalp, 
or integuments of the upper part of the skull with the 
hair, of their fallen enemies, which the Indians display 
as trophies of their victory, with as much exultation as 
ancient heroes manifested in showing the arms of their 



46 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

vanquished foes. The head of the war club is globular, 
and at times hollow, inclosing pieces of metal, which 
make a gingling noise when a stroke is given. Occa- 
sionally, the blade of a knife, or some other sharp in- 
strument, is fastened to the end of it at right angles. 
The tribes who dwell in the depth of the forest have 
no bucklers, but shelter themselves behind trees : those, 
however, who live in an open country, as on the banks 
of the Missouri, use bucklers or shields of a circular 
form, about two feet and a half in diameter, and com- 
posed of three or four folds of buffalo's skin, dried in 
the sun and hardened. These shields are proof against 
arrows, but not against ball. 

In all their acts of devotion, and on all occasions 
where their confidence is to be won or their friendship 
secured, smoking is regarded as an inviolable token of 
sincerity. 

The pipe, or calumet, as some have called it, is the 
symbol of peace and the pledge of friendship. Among 
the rude dwellers of the desert, it serves the same pur- 
poses as a flag of truce in the armies of more civilized 
communities. The pipe is about four feet long; the 
bowl made of stone or clay, and the stem of a light 
wood. It is differently ornamented in different nations. 
The bearer of this sacred symbol of friendship is never 
treated with disrespect, because they believe the Great 
Spirit would not allow such an iniquity to escape with 
impunity. 

Peace is concluded, and treaties are ratified, by smok- 
ing. Wampum, and wampum belts, are also commonly 
used on such occasions. Wampum, the current coin of 
the Indians, is formed of shells found on the coasts of 
New England and Virginia: some of those shells are of a 



LANGUAGES AND GENERAL TRAITS. 



47 



purple colour, others white, but the former are reckoned 
most valuable. They are cut into the shape of oblong 
beads, about a quarter of an inch long, perforated, and 
strung on a small leathern thong: several of these 
strings, neatly sewed together by fine sinewy threads, 
form a belt, consisting of ten, twelve, or more strings. 
The value of each bead, and, consequently, of each 
string or belt, is exactly known. The size of the belt, 
which is often about two feet long, and three or four 
inches broad, is proportioned to the solemnity and im- 
portance of the occasion on which it is given. The 
chiefs occasionally give strings to each other as tokens 
of friendship ; but belts are reserved for the ratification 
of national treaties, every stipulation of w T hich is re- 
corded to posterity by the hieroglyphics on the belt. 

Tribes in amity occasionally apply to each other for 
a supply of their wants. When one tribe is in need of 
any commodity with which another is w r ell provided, 
the needy tribe send a deputation of their number to 
smoke with their wealthier neighbours, and to inform 
them of their wants ; and it w r ould be a breach of In- 
dian courtesy to send them away without the expected 
supply. What they smoke is tobacco mixed with the 
leaves of sumach. 

The Shoshones, a band on the Rocky Mountains, 
before smoking with strangers, pull off their moccasins, 
in token of the sacred sincerity of their professions; 
and by this act they not only testify their sincerity, but 
also imprecate on themselves the misery of going bare- 
footed for ever, if they prove unfaithful to their word. 

LANGUAGES AND GENERAL TRAITS. 

A number of different languages are spoken by the 



48 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Indians ; and, in some cases, different dialects of the 
same language are found among different tribes. 

The original languages, besides that of the Esqui- 
maux, are said to be principally three,— the Iroquois, 
the Lenni Lenape, or Delaware, and the Floridian. 
These languages are so distinct, as to have no perceiv- 
able affinity. The Iroquois was spoken by the Iroquois 
or Six Nations, and several other tribes. The Iroquois, 
or Six Confederated Nations, so famous in Indian his- 
tory, and once so formidable by their numbers, laws, and 
military prowess, are the Mohawks, Oneidas, Senecas, 
Cayugas, Onondagoes, and Tuscaroras. The Delaware 
language was spoken by many nations in the middle 
provinces ; and the Floridian by the Creeks, Choctaws, 
Cherokees, Chickasaws, and other tribes in the southern 
states. These languages are said to be copious and 
expressive : they often consist of long compounds, and 
comprise many ideas in one word. 

In their intercourse with the white men the Indians 
adopt none of their words or names, but apply names 
of their own invention both to persons and things. 

In short, in the aboriginal inhabitants of North 
America, we find a race of men subsisting by fishing, 
hunting, and a partial cultivation of the soil. They are 
brave, active, shrewd, and penetrating; kind to their 
friends, but vindictive and cruel towards their enemies; 
capable of making great and persevering exertions, and 
of enduring the most excruciating torments without a 
sigh or a groan. 

They believe in one Great Spirit, the Creator and 
Governor of the world, on whom they continually de- 
pend, and from whom all their enjoyments ffow. Al- 
though they have no public or social worship, yet they 



LANGUAGES AND GENERAL TRAITS. 49 

are grateful to the Great Spirit for past favours, thank 
him for present enjoyments, and implore from him fu- 
ture blessings ; this they sometimes do with an audible 
voice, but more frequently in the silent aspirations of 
the heart. They believe in the doctrine of immortality 
and future retribution; but their conceptions on the 
subject are vague, and modified by their peculiar man- 
ners and habits. 

Many attempts have been made to convert them to 
Christianity, but hitherto with little success. From 
their intercourse with white men they have derived no 
advantage : for since the commencement of that inter- 
course they have improved neither in civilization nor 
morality, and many powerful tribes have either totally 
disappeared, or present only a feeble remnant. The 
great diminution of their numbers is owing partly to 
war, partly to the ravages of small-pox, which seem to 
have been communicated to them by white men, but, 
above all, to the destructive effects of intoxicating liquors 
introduced among them by Europeans, -and which have 
operated like a pestilence among these untutored tenants 
of the wilderness. 



5 



CHAPTER I. 



EARLY INDIAN WARS OF FLORIDA. 

EFORE any permanent 
settlement was effected in 
the territory at present 
comprehended within the 
limits of the United States, 
many years were spent 
in exploring the coasts 
of the continent, and in 
vainly attempting to plant 
colonies on the shores. 
The English, under the 
command of the Cabots, were the first to discover the 
continent of North America, and they were also the 
first to reconnoitre the coast of Florida, without, how- 
ever, attempting a landing. In endeavours to gain 
possession of the country, they were preceded both by 
the Spaniards and the French. 

The first expedition to the coasts of Florida was 
.made in 1512, by Juan Ponce de Leon, who had ac- 
companied Columbus in his second voyage. He had 
first employed his arms against the Moors^ when they 
were expelled from the kingdom of Granada, and he 
was afterwards much noticed in the West Indies, on 
account of his courage and abilities. Ponce de Leon, 
becoming conqueror and governor of Porto Rico, learnt 
from some Indians, that there existed towards the north 
a rich and fertile country, the waters of which had the 
property of restoring youth ; and that a stream endowed 
with a similar virtue, passed through the island of Bim- 
mi, situated in the midst of the archipelago of Ba- 




DISCOVERY OF FLORIDA, 



51 



hama. The old warrior, desiring to signalize himself 
by new enterprises, and perhaps seduced by a vain illu- 
sion, set out from Porto Rico with three ships. He 
directed his course towards this archipelago, and ex- 
plored several islands without finding this marvellous 
stream, and finally reached the continent, at about 30 
degrees 8 minutes of north latitude. This discovery 
took place on Palm-Sunday, and therefore he gave the 
name of Florida to the country he had discovered. 
Ponce de Leon explored from north to south all the 
coast of this country ; he landed at different places, and 
had several engagements with the natives. After having 
sailed round the southern point of Florida, and disco- 
vered the archipelago of the Tortugas, he returned to 
Porto Rico, still dazzled by his first expectations. The 
treasures and youth that he sought, had escaped him ; 
but he found fame, and his memory has been conse- 
crated by a great discovery. 

Perez de Ortubia afterwards undertook a voyage for 
the same purpose ; and several discoveries were made 
on other portions of this coast, in 1520, by Lucas Vas- 
quez de Ayllon. A tempest having surprised him in an 
expedition against the Caribbees of the Lucayo islands, 
he was driven to the eastern coast of the continent, and 
pushed his discoveries towards the north, till he arrived 
at JDape St. Helena : he formed no settlement here, and 
the only result of his voyage was the kidnapping of 
thirty Indians, whom he took to Hayti, where they were 
compelled to labour in the mines, and they all soon died 
of sorrow and fatigue. 

To fill the place of the ancient inhabitants of this 
island and those of Cuba, who had nearly all been de- 
stroyed by the conquerors, they often fitted out slave 
expeditions for the Caribbean archipelago ; and when 
the continent was discovered, this species of piracy 
was practised on its shores, till they finally transported 
its bloody theatre to the shores of Africa. 

Ponce de Leon for some years had appeared to re- 
nounce his spirit of discovery, when the report of the ex- 
ploits of Ferdinand Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico, re- 



52 INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES, 

animated ambition Moreover, the recent discoveries 
eiltTFlt^T h 1 d aCqUainted him with ^ ,S 

set nut in 1 SV he - a A° lmn f . countries - p once de Leon 
set out in 1521, with two ships equipped at his own e* 
pense, to form a settlement in" this country butTe In-" 
dians advanced against him: most of his men were 
killed; he himself having been wounded by?n arlow 
was compelled to return to his ship, and he set sail for 
Cuba, where he died some days after his arrival 

aA n u W e ? ed , ltl0n wa * fitted out in 1524, bv Vasouez 
de Avllon: but he. mn)A nn * a „ L ' - Vd squez 



de Ay,! b ^ ut h could ^oTe^achTe' c^InXd 
discovered on his first voyage. The Indians on th? 

o e f r his e 1 m" 6 " ^7 ^P^ended'tttodr w 
°/ h ! s soldiers mto the interior of the country 
two hundred men were killed there; the others were 
assailed on the shore, and Vasquez de Avllon himse f 
fell under the blows of the Indians. All the surround 
J tribes sought to repulse the European s : ttoSt" 
of the piracies committed on the shore, was spread 
hroughout the country: the Indians were engaged! and 
they seized this occasion to take revenge. 8 

Ihe eastern coast only of Florida had as vet been 
explored ; Pamphilo de Narvaez took another Ihicthn 
? I-™ 1 ° f Ferdi "and Cortez was already 
celebrated by his unfortunate expedition to MexLo nl 

EeTftl'r^f ^ his dis ° race > and signal^ 
mmself in his turn, by discoveries. The squadron which 

MaTTc<£ ° ad ?' S ? SaiI in 1527 ' t-cheTa'tte 
veredthe SnfP WuL ? g 'T^ 5 the north, disco- 
JnfhVl 7 l Pensacola, where it came to anchor 

Lt \ a \ 0i Apn1 ' 1528 - Narvaez had with him 
three hundred men, forty of whom were cavalry: he 
penetrated into the interior at the head of his troops 
and to gain the high region of the Apalachees he had 
to surmount every obstacle that a wild^oumry'can op^ 

fended t^TT^Tu The immense P lai »* that ex- 
tended o the foot of these mountains were covered 
with thick forests, and they had grea^S^n 
making a passage through the confused remains of free" 



EXPEDITION OF NARVAEZ, 



53 



overturned by hurricanes, broken in pieces by lightning, 
or fallen from age : marshes, and small puddles of stag- 
nant water in which these ruins of vegetation were 
heaped up, occupied all the lower ground. In one place 
the waters found no emission ; in another, it was neces- 
sary to overcome deep and rapid rivers, either by 
swimming, by rafts, or by canoes hastily constructed. 
They met with several Indian wigwams surrounded by 
their plantations of maize ; but more frequently they 
were in deserts that offered no means of subsistence ; 
and when they arrived at the Apalachees they found 
neither the plenty nor riches which they came to seek. 
Narvaez, exposed to frequent attacks from the Indians, 
who were armed with bows and arrows, which they 
used with as much skill as strength, was not able to 
remain in their country. He returned to the sea-shore, 
and reached the mouth of the river Apalachicola. This 
voyage had lasted three months: the boats they had 
then to construct were not ready till the 20th of Sep- 
tember, and by going to sea immediately, they were ex- 
posed to the violent hurricanes which frequently ac- 
company the equinoxes. This adventurous flotilla kept 
at first along the shore, sailing from the east to the 
west: some maritime canals formed by the continent 
and narrow sandy islands, sheltered them at inter- 
vals ; but when they had no longer the shelter of 
these natural barriers, they became the sport of the 
weaves. The mouth of a great river was soon after- 
wards discovered : it was the Mississippi : the mass of 
its waters was so great that it prolonged its course to 
1 some distance in the sea, and they were thereby ena- 
!i bled to obtain fresh water, of which they stood in much 
' need. But the same current compelled these feeble 
; skiffs to recede from the shore, and they were soon en- 
tirely dispersed by rough weather. Narvaez, who had 
hoped to gain a shore better sheltered, was carried out 
! to sea, and never again seen. The other boats labori- 
ously pursued their voyage towards the west, and were 
cast on different parts of the continent or the islands 
j along the shore, where most of them perished of sick- 
5* 



54 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ness or- hunger. Alvar Nunez, one of those who sur- 
vived this disastrous expedition, was reserved for other 
dangers ; he succeeded in gaining the confidence of the 
Indians, and acquired so much the more ascendency 
over them as they believed him able to predict future 
events and cure all diseases : three others of his ship- 
wrecked companions joined themselves to his destiny ; 
many cures, which these people regarded as the effect 
of their attentions or charms, established their credit, 
and to their skill were attributed many prodigies. They 
shared for eight years a wandering life, the fatigues and 
miseries of the savages ; and they afterwards returned 
to Mexico, accompanied by thirty Indians belonging to 
the provinces through which they had passed. The 
conqueror of New Spain was still there, and Antonio 
de Mendoza exercised the authority of viceroy. 

They wished to profit by the accounts which .these 
travellers gave, by attempting a new expedition into the 
interior of Florida, by land. Vasquez Coronado was 
appointed leader of it ; but he took another course ; he 
proceeded in a north-west direction towards the regions 
of Sinalsa and Sonora, and penetrated the territory of 
Quivira, seeking, on the authority of some vague tra- 
ditions, the riches and wonders which vanished at his 
approach. 

Another expedition took place at the same time; 
Ferdinand de Soto set out from Spain in 1538, with a 
body of twelve hundred men destined to form a settle- 
ment in Florida. This warrior sailed first to the island 
of Cuba, and then proceeded to the continent, landed in 
the bay of Spiritu-Santo, and penetrated towards the 
north, to the foot of the Apalachees. The Spaniards 
then changed their course; they went towards the 
west, through the countries watered by the Coosa, Ala- 
bama, and Tombigbee, and reached, successively, 
the Mississippi, the Red River, and the Brazos-de-Dios, 
which became the limit of their expedition. It had 
lasted three years ; war, fatigue, and famine, had car- 
ried away most of his soldiers ; the spirit of discord 
broke out in the feeble remains of this army, and Fer- 



EXPEDITION OF DE LUNA. 



55 



dinand de Soto determined to return to the Mississippi. 
They again reached this river near the mouth of the 
Arkansas ; but the death of the commander put an end 
to the enterprise : this troop, reduced to three hundred 
men, renounced the design of forming an establish- 
ment ; they embarked on the Mississippi, made frequent 
incursions, which enfeebled them still more, and de- 
scended to the mouth of the river, whence they reached 
the coast of Mexico. 

Don Louis de Velasco, becoming viceroy of New 
Spain, was ordered to fit out another expedition for the 
settlement of Florida. He assembled all the men who 
had borne arms in that country, or who had been ship- 
wrecked there; and Tristan de Luna was appointed 
captain-general of this corps of the army, which em- 
barked at Vera Cruz, and landed, August 14, 1559, in 
the bay of Pensacola. Six days afterwards, the whole 
fleet was destroyed by a hurricane : they lost all the 
provisions they had on board, and they were now with- 
out food, on a sterile coast. A detachment of four hun- 
dred men was then sent on an expedition to procure 
some: they were obliged to traverse an uncultivated 
and desert country, and finally reached the Indian vil- 
lage of Nanipacua. This nation had formerly been 
more numerous, and its ruin appeared to date from the 
period of the invasion of Ferdinand de Soto. Luna 
soon proceeded thither with all his troops ; some arrived 
by land, others by ascending the river : this village re- 
ceived the name of Santa Cruz of Nanipacua. 

The Spanish commandant was favourably received 
there by the natives of the country. The produce of 
the chase and the harvest of maize, were sufficient to 
convince his troops that they would not be entirely 
without provisions ; but these were soon exhausted, and 
Luna, wishing to make new discoveries, placed himself 
at the head of three hundred men. He had heard of 
the province of Coosa, situated farther north : it was 
in this direction that the Spaniards proceeded, and, after 
travelling fifty days through a country intersected by 
rivers, marshes, and forests, where they could not follow 



56 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITE D STATE?. 

any fixed direction, they reached the borders of Alabama. 
At a small distance from them, they saw several Indian 
villages. They encamped in this neighbourhood, and 
entered into a traffic with the people, that they might 
procure provisions, ' = " 

The presence of the strangers was not a new spec- 
tacle for the Indians : they recollected the expedition of 
Ferdinand de Soto : two of his followers had even lived 
twelve years among them, and had here peaceably 'ter- 
minated their lives. They would have received a few 
travellers without fear: but the number and strength of 
an armed troop excited the dread of this savagetribe - 
and to get rid of the Spaniards, they engaged them in 
a military expedition, not unworthy of fheir valour 
determining to assist the Indians of Coosa, who were 
then but a few days' journey distant from them. These 
Indians were then at war with the Natchez, a revolted 
tribe who refused the payment of an ancient tribute. 
Tne Natchez had obtained several great advantages 
over them: the widows of the Coosa warriors, who 
were killed in battle, had cut off their hair, scattered it 
among the tombs of their ancestors, and, coming in a 
body to address the cacique, they cast themselves on 
their knees before him, and implored vengeance. 

On the arrival of the Europeans, who presented them- 
selves as allies, they ran to arms with the greatest con- 
fidence: the cacique had given the signal; cries of 
war were heard throughout die whole nation 'of Coosa. 
Three hundred men assembled :n ? L y - -i 

into different parties, each of which had a wide ■ fifty 
Spaniards on foot and fifty on horseback joined in this 
expedition. The next day eight Indian chiefs were seen 
running across the quarters allotted to the Spaniards, 
to their own, and stopping near the cacique, raising 
great cries: they took him on their shoulders, and ca? 
ned him some distance, till they came to an alcove the 
steps of which he ascended alone. The cacique walk- 
ed about for some time with gravity : a sort of sceptre 
was handed to him, which was terminated by a number 
of very beautiful feathers ; he raised it several times, 



INDIANS AND SPANIARDS IN ALLIANCE. 



59 



pointing it towards the country of the Natchez with a 
menacing gesture. Having put some seeds in his 
■mouth, he bit them, and spit out the remains. He then 
addressed his warriors as follows ; — "Friends, our ene- 
mies will be vanquished, and their forces will be broken 
like these seeds which I have destroyed w T ith my teeth." 
The cacique then took a shell filled with the water, and, 
pouring it out, drop by drop, exclaimed " May all their 
blood be thus poured out." All the Indians repeated 
these imprecations with great shouts. The cacique 
now descended from the alcove, and led his troops to 
the war which he had just solemnly declared against 
the Natchez. (See Engraving, on the opposite page.) 

The following night, new cries were heard in the 
camp of the Indians : their cacique again excited them 
to vengeance, and they swore never to return without 
having accomplished it. The spies sent by the Coosa 
Indians thought that the Natchez were not upon their 
guard, and the cacique desired rather to surprise, than 
attack them openly. They approached their first vil- 
lage, and attempted to occupy the different avenues, so 
that no person might escape ; but when the cacique en- 
tered with his troops, they found all the Natchez had 
fled : a confused noise had made them acquainted with 
the approach of their enemies. Their village was de- 
serted, and they found nothing but some provisions 
which the enemy, in their precipitate retreat, had left 
behind. 

Vengeance was thus deferred ; and their regret was 
more bitter when they saw in the place, round which 
their habitations had been built, large posts, marking 
the usual place of the execution of the prisoners they 
had taken. These posts were hung round with 
limbs and scalps ; and the appearance of these bloody 
trophies raised the fury of the warriors still higher. 
They gathered these miserable remains to bury them 
with superstitious rites ; and they spread through the 
village like madmen, some in the hope of finding ene- 
mies to sacrifice, others to plunder the cabins and set 
lire to them. After sun-set, they celebrated their vie- 



60 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

tory by the light of the fire, with dances, songs, shouts, 
and the confused noise of their warlike instruments. 

The cacique and the Spaniards determined to so in 
pursuit ot the enemy, and advanced towards the moun- 
tain where they supposed they had taken refuse ; thev 
could not discover any trace of them, but approached 
a large river, towards which they appeared to have 
retreated. The savages gave it the name of Ochechitou 
and this name calls to mind that of Nachitoches, which 
is familiarized by many more recent associations. 

The Natchez had in effect crossed the river, and be- 
lieved themselves in safety; but the Coosa Indians knew 
the place where the river could be forded. They c-oss 
ed it, the water being up to the breast. The discharge 
ot a musket, which killed a Natchez, put the others in 
confusion : they were not able to resist fire-arms, and 
finding that they were pursued across another river' 
they solicited peace, promising to pay the cacique of 
Coosa their ancient tributes. These consisted in pro- 
visions of grain and fruit which were sent three times 
a year. Such are the treasures for which savages make 
war ; so trifling are the causes of the battles which 
frequently happen between them. A greater ambition 
a more intense and insatiable thirst for gold and power' 
is found only among civilized people. ' 

In penetrating into the interior of the country, the 
bpanish detachment, separated from the body of the 
army by extensive deserts, had no method of sending 
to J ristan de Luna any account of its situation and dis- 
coveries : it was believed that the whole detachment 
had perished ; and Tristan, wishing to be ready to re- 
ceive the reinforcement he expected from Mexico 
abandoned Santa Cruz de Nanipacua, in order to return' 
by descending the river, to Port St. Maria, which was 
about 120 leagues distant. 

A captain and twelve men, sent bv the commander 
ot the body that fought against the Natchez, did not 
arrive at Santa Cruz till after the departure of the cap- 
tain-general A note, lying at the foot of a tree, ac- 
quainted them with the direction he had taken, and 



LUNA'S TROOPS REVOLT. 



61 



they encountered him at Port St. Maria. They then 
deliberated whether to endeavour to keep possession of 
the province of Coosa, or to abandon it. Tristan de 
Luna regarded it as unworthy of the courage of Spa- 
niards to be overcome with difficulties; and did not 
believe this country as poor as it w r as represented to be 
by the malcontents. " If we cannot live there/' said 
he, " we will retire among the Natchez ; if their re- 
sources are exhausted, we will seek better countries, 
and, to reach them, we will brave every fatigue : it 
would be humiliating to fear it, and, however great it 
may be, we are determined to bear it." 

Luna was ready to struggle against all obstacles ; 
but his aid-de-camp, Juan Ceron, believing them insur- 
mountable, and seeing that his opinion w r as favoured by 
a majority of the soldiers, resolved to oppose the pro- 
ject of the captain-general. He secretly sent into the 
province of Coosa the twelve men who had returned, 
and he considered himself as having power to recall, 
by virtue of the authority with which he was entrusted, 
the detachment w r hich was on a voyage of discovery. 
Ceron persisted in ordering it to return ; and its com- 
mander, receiving a positive order, abandoned the pro- 
vince in which he was established : he had employed 
seven months in this expedition. 

Most of the troops were in a state of discontent 
when this detachment returned to St. Maria : the spirit 
of sedition every day increased ; the extreme severity 
of the captain-general only made its progress more 
rapid, and as he could not put in execution the rigour 
of his orders against a great number of undisciplined 
i men, they passed soon from discontent to disdain 
of his authority. These troubles lasted five months; 
they were finally terminated by the pious exhortations 
of Father Domingo, of the order of Annunciation, who 
made use of all the power of religion, to bring back the 
parties to a love of peace and an oblivion of mutual 
injuries. 

In the meanwhile, the viceroy of Mexico, Don Louis 
de Velasco, informed of these dissensions of the body 
6 



62 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES, 

of the army, had appointed a successor to Tristan de 

*°S 5 f had a PP ointed Angel de Villafana governor 
of Florida, and this new commander soon arrived at 
Port St. Maria, with a reinforcement of troops and 
some munitions. Villafana wished to profit bv the ex- 
penence of his predecessors, in order that he might de- 
cide with more judgment whether he should occupy 
anew the province of Coosa, or abandon all thoughts 
of forming an establishment in a region so often repre- 
sented as sterile. This last council prevailed, and Vil- 
lafana led his troops to Havana. His instructions or- 
dered him to return to the eastern coast of Florida 
and explore it as far as Cape St. Helena ; but this plan 
was not put in execution. 

Tristan de Luna and a few of his followers were 
now the only persons who remained at Port St. Maria. 
This old commander could not renounce an enterprise 
the grandeur and advantages of which had so much 
engaged his attention: and he wrote to the viceroy of 
Mexico, to submit to him a new plan of operations. 
He did not doubt of success ; but the viceroy, not see- 
ing any possibility of it, ordered him to return to New 
Spain, which order he obeyed. 

_ These last events happened in 1561. Although Flo- 
rida had been explored at different points, since the first 
discoveries of Ponce de Leon, no permanent settlement 
had yet been established, when a new flag appeared on 
the eastern coasts of the continent, now called Georgia 
and Carolina. s 

Admiral Coligni, desiring to form a refuge for the 
Calvmists persecuted in France, had formed, under the 
reign of Henry II, the project of founding a Protestant 
colony in America : and Durand de Ville^agnon. vice- 
admiral of Brittany, had been charged with this expe- 
dition. But the fort which he built on the coa«t of Bra- 
zil was soon destroyed by the Portuguese, and Coligni 
cast his eyes on the countries situated to the north of 
Honda, which had formerly been discovered bv Verra- 
zmi. He proposed to the king to make a voyage of 
discovery, and Charles IX., who then reigned placed 



EXPEDITION OF RIBAUT. 



two ships at his disposal, the command of which he 
gave to Jean Ribaut of Dieppe, a mariner of great ex- 
perience, who set sail from that port, February 15th, 
1562. Ribaut and his crew were of the reformed reli- 
gion ; and the admiral, in protecting an expedition which 
would be useful to the Protestants, had regard also 
to the interests of France. He designed to form a 
retreat for the proscribed, and put an end to the civil 
and religious wars ; to separate the two parties, with- 
out, however, making them forget their common origin 
and country. 

Captain Ribaut reached the coasts of Florida in the 
30th degree of north latitude ; he followed it, sailing 
towards the north, and landed on the shores of a river, 
which he called the river May, because he discovered 
it in this month. This river is the same as that which 
was afterwards called by the Spaniards, St. Matthew. 
They raised there, as a sign of possession, a column 
on which were inscribed the arms of France, and they 
had friendly communications w T ith the natives of the 
country. Ribaut wished to prosecute his discoveries, 
that he might choose the most favourable place for 
forming a settlement ; he discovered the mouths of all 
the rivers of this coast, from the Altamaha to the Sa- 
vannah, and he reached, by continuing his voyage, the 
entrance of a deep bay, which he called Port Royal. 
The Coosa- Walchee, whose source is in the Apalachees, 
pours its waters into this vast basin, and divides itself 
into two branches before emptying into the sea; the 
one bends its course towards Port Royal, the other to- 
wards the bay of St. Helena ; and this region has 
1 always been distinguished by the natives as the first in 
which the Europeans established colonies. 

Ribaut considered as a southern prolongation of New 
France, the countries which he discovered, and the 
Spaniard regarded them as a northern prolongation of 
Florida. This was giving on both sides a great exten- 
sion to the right of discovery ; that of occupation was 
more positive, and Ribaut had not been preceded by 
any colony on the coast where he intended to establish 



64 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

one. He gave French names to the rivers he dis- 
covered; they were the Seine, Garonne, Loire, Sou- 
rene, Charente and Sordogne. The fortress which he 
afterwards built on an island in the bay of Port Royal, 
received the name of Charlesfort. The command of it 
was given to Captain Albert; and the chief of the ex- 
pedition before leaving him, addressed him in the fol- 
lowing words : " I pray you, in the presence of all, to 
so worthily acquit yourself of your duty, and so mo- 
destly govern the little troop that I leave you, and who 
consent to remain under your orders with so much 
pleasure, that I shall never have cause to reprove you, 
and shall be able, as I wish, to declare to the king, the 
faithful service that, in presence of us all, you promised 
towards him in his New Spain." " And you, compa- 
nions," said he to the soldiers, " pray you to obey Cap- 
tain Albert, as if he was myself; rendering him the 
obedience that a true soldier should to his commander, 
being in unity with one another; and doing this, God 
will assist you and bless your undertakings." We have 
quoted the language of the authors of his time, that 
we might give in its native simplicity this admirable 
address. 

After leaving in the fort some provisions and muni- 
tions of war, Ribaut saluted with his artillery the new 
French establishment, and directed his course towards 
the north, with the intent of gaining the banks of the 
Jordan, now Santee, which a sailor, who had belonged 
to the expedition of Vasques de Ayllon had discovered 
forty years before ; but the water became shallow as 
they approached the coast, and the mouths of the rivers 
which they fell in with were so obstructed with sand, 
that Ribaut, after having consulted his crew, deter- 
mined to prosecute his discoveries no farther, but to go 
and render an account of what he had done. He re- 
turned to Dieppe, five months after his departure. 

_ Captain Albert's first communications with the In- 
dians were friendly; ascending the river, he visited the I 
cacique Andusta, and many other chiefs of different I 
tribes, who welcomed him with fetes, and presented 



THE FRENCH ABANDON THE SETTLEMENT. 



65 



him with some maize,game and fruits; he made them 
presents in return, so that a perfect understanding ex- 
isted between them. But he knew not how to gain the 
affection of his soldiers ; he irritated them by many 
acts of rigour and injustice. A soldier had been de- 
graded for some fault, and left on a neighbouring island 
without provisions : others, menaced with a similar 
treatment, excited a sedition against Albert : they put 
him to death, brought back the banished soldier who 
was almost starved, and appointed for commander one 
of their number, named Nicholas Barre, who succeeded 
in establishing order in the colony. It was however in 
want of many things : the reinforcement they expected 
from France had not arrived, and having no vessel in 
w T hich to leave the country, they began to construct a 
brigantine. The Indians furnished them with large 
ropes for the rigging : they caulked it with the moss 
w 7 hich they gathered from trees and the resin of pine 
trees ; they made sails of their clothing, and departed in 
that feeble bark, after having distributed their last pre- 
sents among the Indians. The provisions which they 
received from them were insufficient for a long voyage ; 
the progress was impeded sometimes by storms, at 
others by calms: their provisions were finally ex- 
hausted, and the crew in despair decided that one of 
their number should be sacrificed to save the rest. 
Then the banished soldier, w T hom they had formerly 
saved from death, offered himself as a voluntary vic- 
tim : his offer was accepted ; hunger made them an- 
thropophagi. Finally, land was discovered ; they 
were transported with joy, and after having gone on 
shore, let their deserted vessel, which leaked in many 
places, float at the mercy of the waves. In this situa- 
tion they were discovered by the captain of an English 
vessel who took them on board ; many were taken to 
England, where they were interrogated respecting the 
shores of America, and on the possibility of establishing 
a colony there; others were landed on the coast of 
France, and arrived at Dieppe, in the month of July, 
1564. This expedition had lasted twenty-nine months : 
6* 



66 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

it had been left to itself ; civil war having prevented 
the mother country from sending assistance to this dis- 
tant colony. It was only after the return of peace that 
Admiral Coligni was authorized by the king to send 
three vessels to this part of the American continent. 

Rene de Laudonniere, who had accompanied Ribaut 
in his first expedition, was appointed commander of this 
one, and departed from Havre, April 22d, 1564. We 
may mention, among the persons who accompanied 
him, Ottigny, Lacaille, Laroche-Ferriere, d'Erlac, Le- 
vasseur, who signalized themselves by their military 
services. A painter, named Le Moine, accompanied 
them, and his drawings, afterwards engraved by 
Debry, made the Europeans acquainted with various 
scenes in the life of the Indians. 

The pictures by which a narrative is ornamented, 
have often been considered as a great help to the study 
of history. Nature has its spectacles, people have their 
monuments, and faithful representations aid to fix them 
in our memory. If they represent festivals or national 
solemnities, they spread more light on the description ; 
if they show the common occurrences of life, they 
allow us to dispense with details which suspend the 
interest in the event and the rapidity of recital. The 
writings of the ancients, at least in the condition in 
which we have received them, were not accompanied 
by them : this privation often keeps us in uncertainty 
respecting the progress of their industry and of their 
skill in the arts ; and we have in vain endeavoured to 
re-construct some of their inventions, by the aid of the 
writings they have left us. 

^ But in using this language of signs, we must not lose 
sight of its being only an accessary to our work, and 
that it should be bent to the will of the historian with- 
out^ ever serving him as a guide. Each place, each 
period does not offer the same number of figures ; his- 
tory has its deserts, as well as its fertile meadows ; in 
one place we have nothing to represent, in another a 
long series of images is presented. 

The time at which Laudonniere set sail, was the 



I. 



(68) 



LAUDO^NIERE'S VOYAGE. 



69 



same as that in which the colonists of Charlesfort, who 
had been so long left without assistance, left the shores 
of America to return to France. The two expeditions 
crossed each other in the midst of the ocean without 
meeting, and the project of Coligni could not be accom- 
plished : other destinies awaited the navigators on the 
shore where they were about to settle. 

Laudonniere reached the Canaries, whence he 
sailed towards the Antilles: he had on the island of 
Dominica, where he landed to take in some provisions, 
an engagement with the Caribbees ; he rounded the 
islands of St. Christopher and Montserrat, reached the 
coasts of Florida, and on the 20th of June sailed up the 
river May. The Indians gave them a friendly recep- 
tion: their cacique, Saturiova, came to see them; and 
Lacaille, who had imperfectly learned their language 
in his voyage, made him understand that they were 
sent hither by a prince who governed all the East. 
They came to render homage to his goodness, to his 
valour and liberality, and they had surmounted many 
perils to form with him a treaty of confederation and 
friendship. Saturiova was flattered by this honour; he 
believed himself still more powerful, since so distant a 
sovereign sought his alliance, and conducted the French 
to the column that Ribaut had erected, two years be- 
fore, on the banks of the river. The warriors found it 
ornamented with flowers, branches of laurel and other 
trees: and provisions had been brought here for the 
new guests. (See Engraving, on the opposite page.) 

The intention of Laudonniere was to gain promptly 
the bay of Port Royal : he again set sail towards the 
north, and landed at several parts of the coast which 
had been discovered by the preceding expedition. Here 
they learnt that the post of Charlesfort had been aban- 
doned for several months, and they were compelled to 
choose a place on which to settle. This bay was the 
most beautiful and the most secure which the French 
had discovered, but the banks of the river May ap- 
peared more fertile and more favourable for the esta- 
blishment of a new colony. They hoped by ascending 



70 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

tl^S' m re f acI ?. the country that contained the 
mines of gold of which they were in search, and this 

2'h!!!h\ Wa \ f T ded - ° n , l he ill " unde «tood information 
which they had received from the savages. Thev had 
old them that by following this direction which led 
towards the mountains, they could easilv establish com- 
munications with another sea; and we have since dis- 
covered, by visiting this part of the Apalachees, that 
but a short distance separates the sources of the rivers 
which flow either east or south, the former towards the 
ocean the latter towards the gulf of Mexico. These 
considerations made them prefer the banks of the river 
May to all other situations. A triangular fort was 
constructed two leagues from its mouth; and was 
called Carolina m honour of their king; and the In- 
dians themse ves laboured at the entrenchments which 
they surrounded with ditches and palisades. 

TU t i atl !u S then L united int o several confederacies. 
1 fiat along the sea shore was composed of thirty tribes 
the principal of which was under the dominion of Satu- 
nova as cacique. A confederation more distant from the 
fSS f^f^^lfgto the Apalachee, acknowledged 
Outina for its head chief. Other similar leagues were 
lormed in the neighbouring territories; and the popu- 
lation of the natives of the country was thus grouped 
round their principal war-chiefs. Communit/ o in- 
terests, similarity of language, family alliances, were 
the foundation of these voluntary associations. If the 

Sen thr^ "ST* ^ S3me nation ™™ 

broken, they could easily be re-established by the ad- 
vice and intervention of others; but the rivalry which 
existed among the greater confederations wi mow 
inveterate, and their quarrels were transmitted from 
generation to generation. "worn 
Laudonni^re did not desire to enter into the quarrels 
of the natives • he had at first sought the friendship of 
Satunova, whose good will was necessary for the safe- 
ty of the colony; and when this chief asked his assist 
ance against the mountain tribes, Laudonniere instead 
of uniting with one of the parties, made them become 



BATTLE WITH THE INDIANS. 



71 



reconciled. He did not, however, always preserve this 
neutrality : he several times rendered assistance to 
Outina, against the other tribes of the Apalachees ; the 
Indians of the coast became jealous of this, and the 
consequence of a change of policy finally rendered 
the situation of the French very difficult. 

In preferring the alliance of Outina to that of the 
other chiefs, Laudonniere sought to open communica- 
tions more easily with the mountains in which they 
hoped to find the mines of gold ; it was in this direction 
that he extended his discoveries. He gave to Outina 
the assistance of a body of twenty-five riflemen, com- 
manded by Ottigny, one of his bravest officers ; and the 
troops of the cacique, accompanied by their auxiliaries, 
marched with confidence against the enemy. The In- 
dian army stopped towards the evening, and separated 
into various groups, to keep watch during the night. 
A hundred warriors were ranged at some distance 
round the cacique ; two hundred men, farther off, form- 
ed a second circle round him, and they were themselves 
surrounded by another numerous circle. The Indians 
began their march at break of day, and, when they had 
arrived at the limits of the territory they intended to 
invade, Outina resolved to consult the sorcerer whom 
he had in his army, that he might know the force and 
position of his enemies. The sorcerer was an old man 
bowed down with years; he knelt on the ground, traced 
around him some unknown characters, murmured some 
unconnected words, fatigued himself by his violent con- 
vulsions, and, taking breath, he made known the number 
of the enemies, and the place where they were to be 
found. The cacique was discouraged ; but, on the en- 
treaties of Ottigny, he determined to march against 
them. This officer and the riflemen began the action : 
the enemy was conquered ; and those who were killed 
or taken prisoners were cut in pieces by the Indians, 
without Ottigny's being able to make them renounce so 
barbarous a custom ; and the savages, loaded with their 
bloody remains, marched back to their own territory. 

After having assisted the cacique in his expedition, 



72 INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. 

Ottigny quitted the neighbourhood of the mountains 
and returned to Fort Carolina. Their provisions were 
now almost exhausted; the bonds of discipline were 
relaxed and the spirit of dissension increased every 
day. _ Ihe malcontents accused Laudonniere of appro- 
priating to his own use the money which had been sent 
lor the purpose of buying provisions for the troops : of 
sending only his friends for the discovery of the mines, 
and of depriving of these riches all the other soldiers 
of condemning them to severe labours ; of depriving 
them even of the consolations of religion; and of 
leaving without ministers all the reformers who had 
followed him. 

Some movements of insubordination, at first timid 
and undecided gave place to a conspiracy against 
Laudonniere. Desfourneaux was the leader of the sedi- 
tious: he proceeded, at midnight, at the head of twenty 
riflemen, to the lodgings of this officer, took him pri- 
soner, and conducted him chained on board of a ship. 
Ihe mutineers afterwards obliged him, under pain of 
cleatn, to sign a paper which authorized them to so into 
the Spanish possessions to seek for provisions! and, 
under this pretext, they armed two light vessels, sailed 
through the Archipelago of the Lucayos, and gained 
the shores of the island of Cuba, where they committed 
numerous depredations. The governor of this island 
and his sons were seized by them in a caravel: he 
agreed with them on the price of his ransom, and one 
IT IT WaS Pf. rmitted t0 g° on shore to procure this 
sum; but according to the private instructions given 
him by the governor, he secretly gathered all the sol- 
diers m the neighbourhood, and attacked the pirates. 
Ihe caravel which had been seized was retaken, with 
the crew that had been placed in it : one of their ships 
was destroyed, and there being only one brigantine con 

n? n Ing hl We f ty " SIX men ', eft ' the >' believed 6 themselves 
incapable of continuing their voyage, and determined 
to return to the river May. They no longer had power 
to excite a sedition: Laudonniere had been set at liber- 
ty and his authority re-established, through the attention 



SCARCITY OF PROVISIONS. 



73 



of Ottigny, Caille, d'Erlac, and the other soldiers who 
had remained faithful. The corsairs only wished to 
touch at the port, to take in some provisions, and their 
intention was to set sail afterwards for France; but 
their vessel was seized ; the four principal leaders were 
condemned to death ; the others were pardoned. 

These acts of piracy excited profound hatred in the 
Spanish colonies ; religious hatred was added to it, and 
they determined to destroy a colony formed by Lu- 
therans. Although the punishment of the criminals was 
a reparation for their offences, they were not contented 
with it; and since they could no longer accuse the 
French colony of favouring piracy, they accused 
them of heresy. 

During the absence of these adventurers, which 
lasted nearly four months, Laudonniere had continued 
the building of Fort Carolina. He was on friendly terms 
with Saturiova, and the Indians of the shore often 
brought him fish, game, and maize, in exchange for 
arms and different products of European manufacture. 
Captain Levasseur sailed along the coast to the bay of 
Port Royal, to renew the communications established 
three years before, with the people of this neighbour- 
hood, and he received from their cacique Andusta, a 
present of some maize. Laudonniere maintained his 
intimate union with Outina, and, to obtain provisions, 
aided him in his military expeditions. 

Their provisions, however, began to fail : fish abound- 
ed only in certain seasons ; the migrating birds disap- 
peared ; the hunters no longer met with those clouds of 
wood-pigeons which had but lately covered some islands 
on the shore, and they were obliged to eat acorns, the 
bark of certain trees, roots, and fruits which grew 
spontaneously. They could have obtained, by cultiva- 
tion, provisions more efficacious and more durable; 
but they paid no attention to this, although admiral 
Coligni had expressly recommended it. This species 
of labour was disgusting to men accustomed only to 
the fatigues of war and to the absolute idleness in 
which they lived during the intervals between them ; 
7 



74 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

they believed themselves able to gain every thine at 
the point of the sword, and they attached no value to 
the peaceful conquests of labour and objure and tran- 
quil occupations. The warriors who sailed to the New 
World had often seen in Europe a class of men 
attached to the soil ; they were there charged with the 
defence of these cultivators who supported them, and 
in changing their country they did not change their 
habits. We should, however, say that since the period 
of the discovery, their conduct towards the Indians had 
no longer the same rigour. The French who sought to 
establish a colony in America depended, it is true, on 
the natives for their provisions, but they always save 
them something in exchange. The least products of 
their industry had a value among the savages, all the 
fruits of the land were held in estimation by the 
Europeans, and they were led to commerce by their 
mutual wants. These relations, however, diminished 
from day to day, and provisions no longer arrived at 
Fort Carolina after the French had exhausted their 
presents and means of exchange. 

Then, not being able to demand any thing of the 
earth, since they had confided nothing to it, thev had 
to endure all the penalties of their neglect. It was ne- 
cessary to take from the Indians what they would no 
longer voluntarily oner ; but the savages retired into 
the depths of the forests, and carried with them in 
their flight the few provisions thev had remaining 
Ine snore oflered no resources: the inhabitants of the 
mountains had also refused to furnish them any provi- 
sions, although they were able to do so. The difficulty 
of living on an uncultivated and desert shore was gene- 
rally felt, and they hastened to build a ship which could 
carry them back to France. This was not enough ■ it 
was necessary to have provisions to last till they em- 
barked, and enough for their voyage. 

They cast their eyes upon Outina; and as they 
hoped nothing more from his friendship, thev formed 
the project of taking him captive, that they might force 
the Indians of whom he was the chief to furnish some 



HOSTILITIES BETWEEN THE FRENCH AND INDIANS. 75 

provisions as his ransom, Laudonniere disapproved at 
first of this design, and made to the men who proposed 
it a wise representation of the necessity of managing 
the savages, and of not increasing their hatred; but he 
was not listened to, and the resolution they had taken 
of abandoning the country made them believe that they 
could constrain him to side with them with impunity. 
Finally, Laudonniere yielded to the entreaties of his 
troops"; he embarked, for the purpose of ascending the 
river, with fifty of his best soldiers, and after a voyage 
of sixty leagues, he surprised Outina in the midst of his 
tribe, and carried him away prisoner, declaring the 
motives which had led them to this measure. 

The Indians furnished them with some provisions, 
and seeing with regret that they would not give their 
cacique his liberty, they placed themselves under the 
authority of his son, that they might still rally round a 
chief, and a name which was dear to them. Outina, 
having become a captive, made many promises for the 
sake of procuring his liberty, and the season permitted 
him to fulfil them. The summer commenced, the har- 
vests became ripe, and they began to gather them in ; 
but Outina made them understand that these harvests 
would never belong to those who kept him prisoner, 
and that the Indians would rather destroy them than 
leave them at their disposal. Laudonniere finally con- 
sented to give the cacique his liberty, in the hope that 
he would inspire his tribe with more favourable dispo- 
sitions. 

The whole nation was, however, irritated, and pre- 
parations were everywhere made for war. Long arrows 
were stuck in the field with scalps hanging at the tops ; 
large trees had been cut down to obstruct the naviga- 
tion of the river, so that the boats of the French could 
not return to Fort Carolina. They had killed several 
soldiers who had strayed from the party, and they 
laid ambuscades for the troops. A detachment of 
thirty men, commanded by Ottigny, was attacked by 
the Indians, who had divided into separate bodies that 
they might attack them successively. Several men 



76 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

wS, k ii ,Cd ' fl tW , e ^ tW ° Woundcd 5 a "d the boats to 

fort Th 67 d ^ §re u at difficult ^ in Te S^ing the 
tort. The commander having no longer any thine to 
expect from this expedition, sought provisions else- 
where. He sent several vessels along the coast, and 
Captain Levasseur obtained from the Indian chiefs two 
cargoes of maize. They then hoped that they would 
have provisions enough to return to France; thev 
were about to quit this establishment, and had begun to 
destroy the fortifications, that they might not leave to 
other occupants the means of maintaining themselves 

On the 3d of August, 1565, they discovered four ves- 
sels at sea, and having sent to know whose they were 
they learnt that it was an English squadron, command- 
ed by Captain Hawkms, who had sailed fifteen days 
along the coast He had been conducted to it by Mar- 
tin Atinas, of Dieppe, who had formerly discovered it, 
for he had accompanied Ribaut in his first expedition. 
Hawkins desired to get a supply of water; his demand 
was granted, and he came himself, in one of the boats 
belonging to his ship, to pay Laudonniere a visit, and 
spend some days with him. The French had kept till 
then, ,n the midst of their greatest privations, a number 
of domes ic fowls, which they sought to naturalize in 
this country, and which they determined to keen as a 
last resource. They killed many of them that they 
might better entertain the English captain ; and he! 
having learnt the intention of the commander to return 
to * ranee, offered to receive him and all his followers 
on board one of his vessels. Laudonniere would not 
accept the offer ; he was unacquainted with the relations 
between France and England ; the two powers appeared 
to him to be but ill reconciled, war might suddenly 
break out between them, and if it did occur during 
he voyage the French who were on board would, on 
then- arrival m England, be retained as prisoners. 
n^T Vei 7 la " slble were these reasons of Laudon- 
niere his refusal excited so much discontent in Fort 
Carolina, that all wished to profit by the occasion offered 



SPANISH FLEET ARRIVES. 



77 



them to embark. Hawkins proposed to take all with 
him that desired it, and to give to Laudonniere a vessel 
to transport the others. This offer was accepted : the 
price of the ship was agreed on, and they gave, as a 
security for payment, many pieces of artillery and some 
munitions of war, which the approaching desertion of 
the fort caused them to regard as useless. Hawkins, 
seeing that they had nothing but maize to live on, offer- 
ed them twenty barrels of flour, beans, salt, other pro- 
visions, and some wine ; he furnished stores to those 
who had none, made presents to the officers, and con- 
ducted himself towards all with as much humanity as 
courtesy. 

After the departure of Hawkins, Laudonniere hastily 
made his preparations for embarking, and on the 28th 
of August they set sail, when they discovered several 
vessels; these were commanded by Captain John Ri- 
baut, who had formerly led an expedition in 1562; and 
was to succeed Laudonniere. A false imputation had 
given place to this superseding : some malcontents, re- 
turned to France, had accused him of being too severe 
towards the men who had followed him ; of holding 
suspicious correspondences ; of being disposed even to 
rebellion. Admiral Coligni, however, wrote to him, 
that they had no cause of discontent or suspicion against 
him, and that the king only desired his return that he 
might better know the situation of an establishment upon 
which reports differed, and determine whether it should 
be renounced, or whether new sacrifices should be 
made to maintain it. Ribaut was soon convinced of 
the injustice of the accusations against Laudonniere; 
and desired him to remain with him in the colony ; but 
he could not submit to be reduced to a second place 
in a country where he had commanded. 

Captain Ribaut had only been seven days in the 
ruined fort, which he had again built up, when six 
large vessels, commanded by Don Pedro Melendez de 
Avilez, came in sight. This officer, regarded by the 
Spaniards as one of the greatest captains they had in 
the New World, had been ordered by Philip II. to visit 
7* 



78 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



all the coasts of Florida, and draw an exact chart of 
them, which might serve as a guide to the pilots in the 
channel of Bahama, where frequent shipwrecks occur- 
red. Melendez found this mission too limited ; he pro- 
posed to the king to form an establishment in Florida, 
and to propagate the true faith there. " For me, sire,'' 
added he, "the blindness of so many thousands of 
idolaters has so. greatly affected me, that, of all the ap- 
pointments with which your Majesty can honour me, 
there is not one which I should prefer to that of con- 
quering Florida, and converting its inhabitants to the 
true faith." 

Philip II. accepted the offers of Melendez, who im- 
mediately began his preparations ; and his expedition 
was on the point of sailing, when he learnt that the 
Protestants established in America were about to re- 
ceive a reinforcement from France. Philip II con- 
ceived the design of destroying it, and he increased the 
force under the command of Melendez. This admiral 
departed from Cadiz June 29th, 1565, with the galleon 
Saint Pelage and ten other vessels. This expedition 
was characterized as a holy war ; a great number of 
volunteers joined him, and he had soon under his com- 
mand two thousand six hundred men. On the 9th of 
August, he arrived before Porto Rico, with five ships ; 
the others had been dispersed in a tempest, and he had 
now only a third part of his troops. He then learnt 
that Ribaut had got the advance of him, but that he 
had remained a long time on the coast before landing. 

Melendez, without waiting for a reinforcement, re- 
solved to prosecute his design: he gained the shores 
of Florida, and soon reached the mouth of the river 
May. Four French ships were anchored without the 
entrance of the river, not being able to cross the bar : 
Melendez approached, with the design of seizing them ; 
he took some men prisoners who were on the shore, 
addressed a summons of surrender to the commander 
of the ships, and declared that he had come to engage 
in a war with the Lutherans to whom no quarter would 
be shown; that the Catholics w T ould be humanely treated, 



THE FRENCH RESOLVE TO ATTACK THE SPANIARDS. 79 

but that the heretics should be treated without mercy. 
After having thus menaced them, Melendez sailed out 
to sea, watching for the ships ; which had not enough 
men to engage with him ; but they had time to fly, and 
Melendez not being able to overtake them, proceeded 
to the Dauphin river, and the French vessels returned 
to their station at the mouth of the river. 

Ribaut now resolved to re-embark with part of his 
troops, and attack the Spaniards. Several of his cap- 
tains, and Laudonniere particularly, sought in vain to 
dissuade him from it ; they represented to him that it 
was better to remain on shore and hasten the building 
of their fortifications, that it was dangerous to expose 
themselves to sudden hurricanes on a coast where these 
happened so very often, that it would be difficult to re- 
turn if they should be dispersed, and that they should 
not abandon the fort to the danger of being taken dur- 
ing their absence. But Ribaut was resolved ; he be- 
lieved himself obliged to seek the enemy according to 
the last orders that he had received from Admiral Co- 
ligni before his departure from France. His instruction 
terminated in these words : " In concluding this letter, 
I received certain information, that Don Pedro Melen- 
dez has departed from Spain to go to the coast of New 
France. You must not allow him to encroach upon our 
possessions, any more than he would desire you to en- 
croach upon theirs." That Melendez might not have 
time to establish and fortify himself on the coast where 
he had landed, Ribaut embarked all his own soldiers 
and the greater part of Laudonniere's, and departed 
September 10th, never again to return. 

The Spanish commander was distinguished by great 
activity. Hardly had he proceeded to the Dauphin 
river, when he landed thirty men, to choose a suitable 
place for the establishment he desired to form ; the fort 
of which he laid the foundation received the name of 
St. Augustine, and it was not till some time after that 
this first station was abandoned, and removed farther 
south to the place which it now occupies. Melendez 
took from his vessels all the things necessary for his 



80 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

establishment, and then learning that Ribaut was dis- 
posed to attack him, he sent two ships for reinforce- 
ments to Hispaniola, and to carry to Spain certain 
prisoners whom he desired to deliver to the inquisition: 
he aiterwards stationed himself near the bar of the 
river with his other ships and a part of his troops; but 
no engagement took place between the two squadrons, 
lhe shallow water did not permit Ribaut to cross the 
bar; and a tempest soon after arose which carried the 
*rench vessels out to sea, and prevented them from 
again uniting, to prepare for a new attack. 

This separation instantly allowed the forces of Me- 
Jendez to be disposed of. He made haste to profit bv 
the absence of Ribaut to attack Fort Carolina. Five 
hundred soldiers, musketeers and those carrying rifles 
were chosen for this enterprise: he put himself at the 
head of the vanguard, composed of twenty brave sol- 
diers carrying axes, to open a passage through the 
torest; and he had no guides but a compass and a pri- 
soner whose hands were bound behind his back 

At the end of the fourth day, the troops arrived 
within a mile and a half of the place : they were 
fatigued ; they had several marshes yet to cross ; but 
so violent a storm arose in the night, that the officer 
ot the guard, charged to prevent the fort from being 
surprised, believing there was no necessity for keepinl 
watch, permitted the soldiers of his post to go to sleep 
lhe Spaniards then approached by favour of the dark- 
ness without being heard: the place was surprised at 
break of day, and they entered through three breaches 
at the same time. 

Laudonniere had not had time to build up the ruined 
fortifications of Fort Carolina. Ribaut had left with 
him the women, children, and sick; and out of the two 
hundred and forty persons who were with him, only 
forty were in a condition to bear arms. He wished to 
withdraw to some secure place to make head against 
the enemy and to wait for the assistance which might 
be furnished him by three ships which were still anchor- 
ed m the bay; but, notwithstanding his valour, he could 



THE SPANIARDS DESTROY THE FRENCH COLONISTS. 81 

not maintain his place, and he contented himself with 
protecting the retreat of the men rallied round him. 
Melendez ordered the women and children to be spared ; 
no mercy w T as shown to any others, and those who had 
escaped from the battle were reserved for the scaffold. 
Laudonniere having only one soldier, named Bartho- 
lomew, with him, retreated through a breach and gained 
the woods, where some others had taken refuge ; 
thence they proceeded across the marsh to the mouth 
of the river. The ships received them : twenty others 
succeeded in escaping, and were taken up by the ships, 
which sailed along the coast for that purpose ; and they 
set sail September 25th, to return to France. 

A Spanish garrison was left by Melendez in the fort 
which he had seized, whilst he himself hastily returned 
to St. Augustine, where he expected to be soon attacked. 
He w r as there received as a conqueror of the heretics, 
by the clergy bearing a cross, and singing a Te Deum. 

This bloody expedition, in w T hich all sentiments of 
humanity were stifled by military fury and religious 
fanaticism, took place September 20th. At this time the 
squadron of Ribaut was tossed about by tempests, and 
dispersed on the ocean. This violent storm lasted till 
the 23d: it had dispersed the French ships, and after- 
wards brought them together, and broken them to pieces 
on the rocks. The vessels perished, but the men were 
saved, only to meet with still greater misfortunes. 

Some Indians gave information to Melendez that a 
large number of white persons had appeared towards 
the south, on the other side of a river which they de- 
sired to cross. Melendez took with him a detachment 
to discover who they were ; and when he arrived at 
the banks of the river he saw a Frenchman swimming 
towards him, w T ho told him that all these men were 
shipwrecked, and had formed part of Ribaut's squadron. 
A boat was then sent to the other side, to receive on 
board an officer and several men who were to repre- 
sent the case of these unfortunate persons to Melendez ; 
they told him that they had lost in the last tempest all 
their vessels, and they begged him to lend them one 



82 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

that they might return to Fort Carolina, which was 
situated twenty leagues farther towards the north. 
Melendez replied that he had seized the fort, and 
destroyed the garrison, only sparing the Catholics, 
the women and children. The officer then asked him 
for a ship that they might return to France, on the 
ground that the nations were then on good terms, and 
the sovereigns friendly to one another. "It is true," 
replied Melendez, " that the French Catholics are our 
allies and our friends: but not so with the heretics, 
against whom I will prosecute war to the utmost ; I 
wall show no mercy to any of this sect I meet with on 
land or sea ; and in this I hope I serve both kings. I 
came to Florida to establish the Roman Catholic reli- 
gion. If you will unconditionally surrender and deliver 
up your arms and ensigns, I will act towards you as 
God inspires me : if not, do what you please ; but hope 
neither friendship nor mercy from me." 

This reply was returned to the others, who offered a 
ranson of twenty thousand dollars for their lives. Me- 
lendez refused, and said if he did do it, it would be from 
generosity. As they again made him this offer, he said 
he would rather see the heaven and earth joined to- 
gether than change his resolution. 

The envoys then determined to throw themselves on 
the mercy of Melendez. They suffered themselves to 
be bound, and were marched between two files of mus- 
keteers to an eminence where their companions should 
be successively led. Melendez sent his boat to the 
other side, with twenty soldiers, charging them to re- 
ceive a detachment of only ten men at a time : they 
were also bound, and placed in the power of those 
whose assistance they had demanded ; they were led 
to the place designed for their execution, and all these 
victims were there put to death one after another. 
Eight men declared that they were Catholics and they 
were spared ; all the others declared that they were 
followers of the reformed religion, and were put to 
death. Two hundred men were thus sacrificed. 

On the following day, Melendez returned to St 



MASSACRE OF THE FRENCH. 



83 



Augustine. He soon learnt that a body of men more 
numerous than the first had arrived near the same 
place; and he proceeded towards the mouth of the 
river with one hundred and fifty soldiers. He learnt, 
by the message which was sent him, that this body 
consisted of three hundred and fifty men, commanded 
by Ribaut, viceroy and captain general of New France ; 
that he desired to return to Fort Carolina, and begged 
the loan of a boat to cross the river that he had to 
pass. Ribaut soon came himself, in a small canoe, 
with eight gentlemen ; and when he learnt the fate of 
the garrison, and that of the first persons who were 
shipwrecked, he told the Spanish general "that the 
occurrences of life were so various, that all which had 
happened to the French might one day happen to him- 
self; that their kings were brothers and friends, and 
that, in the name of this alliance, he prayed him to fur- 
nish him with a vessel to return to France." 

Ribaut received the same refusal as the commander 
of the first detachment ; and when he announced it to 
his troops, two hundred men retired the following night, 
that they might not be left at the discretion of Melen- 
dez : the remaining hundred and fifty consented to sur- 
render to him ; and Ribaut, who had promised to see 
him again, returned according to his word, and made 
known their resolution. These unfortunate persons 
were reserved for a similar fate : they were obliged to 
cross the river by detachments, and Melendez inquired 
whether they w r ere Catholics or Lutherans. Ribaut 
replied that they were of the reformed religion. He 
repeated these w 7 ords ; " Domine, memento met ;" he 
then said ; " From the dust we are made, and unto dust 
we shall return; twenty years sooner or later, it is all 
the same. Let them do with me what they please." 
The signal for their execution was given; four men 
declared that they were Catholics, and were the only 
ones that were spared. 

In order to relate these deplorable events, we have 
consulted the relations of the Spaniards themselves, 
particularly those of Solis de las Meras, brother-in-law 



84 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of Melendez. We cannot suppose him capable of cast 
|f g calumny on the memory of a relative and we 

of aV p e ost h e™V. SUrr ° 7 ^ ViCt ™ S ' t0 ^ 

They learnt, three weeks after this bloody event that 
the French were constructing a fort and a /essel on the 
coast of Canaveral. Melendez believed them to be he 
two hundred men who had escaped the fate of Ribaut 
and proceeded with a greater number of troops to 2 
coast which he reached on the 1st of November The 
French, not having finished their fortifications, retired 
to a height, and Melendez proposed to them to oin him 
assuring ; them that he would treat them as his own sol- 
diers: the greater part consented ; but twenty of them 
declared that they would rather be devoured bJ the 

We have seen that the prisoners taken by Melendez 
at the beginning of his expedition, had bee sent on 
board a ship, to be transported to Spain; but thev broke 
heir fetters, seized the vessel, and changing it7d£c! 

Fran t* 7 * ^T^' whenc * the ^ 

fiance. These men were the sad remains of expedi- 

S of ad F lo5da three periods ' t0 foURd a 

thJ he u eWS °J the destruct ion of this colony excited 

^£1 tt , R Ignatl ° 11 ° f tHe French; »»ut y the^r 
agamst the Huguenots again broke out. The court 

hated them ; it looked upon Admiral Coligni as their 
princ^I chief. All that he had done in blhalf of the 
Protestants was considered as a consequence of dim 
inai hostilities; and the persons who had enjoyed S 
favour were no longer protected by the powe/of the 
king Hi S projects of founding a colony were aban- 
doned: they did not wish to be at war with ^ Spain 
They concealed the resentment excited by this Woody 
outrage; and a single soldier resolved to avenge it 7 
Captain Dominic de Gourgues, born at Mont-de-Mar 
sau, had been employed in fhe service of thfkin^of 
France, in all their wars for thirty years. He had sS 
nahzed himself by many heroic Sons , and his S 



EXPEDITION OF GOURGUES. 



85 



deed in arms, in Italy, had been to sustain a siege with 
thirty men against a body of Spanish soldiers. The 
place was taken by assault, and the garrison put to the 
sword ; they only spared the life of Gourgues to make 
hini serve as a galley-slave. The ship in which he 
laboured was captured by the Turks, near the coast of 
Sicily, and conducted to Rhodes, and thence to Constan- 
tinople ; but having been again sent to sea, he was re- 
taken by Romegas, commander of the galleys of Malta. 
De Gourgues recovered his liberty and returned to 
France. He afterwards made a voyage to the coast 
of Africa, to Brazil and the Indian seas ; and on his 
return to his country, he learnt the massacre of the 
French, established in the north of Florida, and he re- 
solved to be revenged. 

De Gourgues borrowed some money, and sold some 
of his property, to equip three ships, manned with one 
hundred and fifty soldiers and eighty sailors, with pro- 
visions for one year : his lieutenant w T as Captain Case- 
nova. The expedition departed from Bourdeaux on the 
second of August, 1567 ; contrary winds kept them 
near Royau, and afterwards by the mouth of the Cha- 
rente, whence they gained the sea. They reached the 
shores of Cuba, after a long voyage, and gained Cape 
St. Antonio, situated at the western extremity of this 
island. De Gourgues then assembled his crew and 
pictured to them the cruelties which the Spaniards had 
exercised towards the French. " Behold," added he, 
" the crime of our enemies ; and what would ours be, 
should we longer defer to revenge the affront which 
has been cast on the French nation ! It is this that has 
engaged me to sell all my property ; it is this which 
has opened to me the purses of my friends. I have 
reckoned upon you; I believed you jealous enough of 
the honour of your country, to sacrifice even your 
lives on an occasion of this importance. Am I de- 
ceived ? I hope to give you an example — to be always 
at your head; will you refuse to follow me?' The 
soldiers declared that they would never forsake him. 

The flotilla scudded along to the north of the island 
8 



S6 INDIAN WA RS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

to gain the Bahama channel: it reached the coasts of 
Jr lorida, passed the river May, where the Spaniards 
saluted them with two cannons, and continued sailing 
along the coast till they had lost sisht of the river In 
the beginning of the night, De Gourgues landed, fifteen 
leagues to the north of the fortress, on the shores of the 
river which we have called Seine., and endeavoured to 
form amicable relations with Saturiova and the Indians 
who were irritated at the ill treatment they had re- 
ceived since the departure of the French. * 1 young 
man. named Pierre de Bray, a native of Havre was 
found among this tribe: he was one of those who had 
escaped from Fort Carolina, when Melendez had =eized 
it. and had been humanely received by Saturiova. Dur- 
ing his stay among the savages he learnt their language • 
he was able to serve as interpreter, and his intervention 
was so much the more useful, as the Indians joined De 
bourgues' expedition. They agreed to meet him by 
the side of the river four leagues from the fort, and the 
captain sent some men to find out the condition of the 
enemy's entrenchments. Pedro Melendez had left 
there lour hundred Spaniards, under the command of 
\ illareal : they were distributed in three forts. The 
largest was that which had belonged to the French 
and which had been put in a condition for defence! 
Ihe other two had been built by Villareal. at the dis- 
tance of two leagues from the first, towards the fewer 
part of the river, which separated them from one an- 
other. Each of these posts was guarded by sixty men. 

lne trench and Indians crossed, without being per- 
ceived, a small river near one of the smaller forts ^De 
Gourgues attacked it on both sides at once, and 'he 
enemy, not being able to withstand his impetuous 
shock, took to flight. Thev were between two fires 
and not one of them escaped. The greater part were 
killed in battle ; the others were reserved for a more 
dreadful death. The second fort was attacked with 
the same order: De Gourgues had crossed the river 
with twenty musketeers, and the Indians joined him by 
swimming. The enemy, forced from their entrench*- 



REVENGE UPON THE SPANIARDS. 



87 



ments, endeavoured to retreat through the woods to 
the principal fort: but they met with the same fate as 
the first. 

Before marching towards the large fort which con- 
tained two hundred and sixty men, De Gourgues sent 
the Indians to form ambuscades in the forest : he left 
an officer with fifteen musketeers in one of the small 
forts, ascended the river with his troops, and sought, in 
approaching the fortress, the means of attacking it at 
the point which appeared most accessible. 

On the first rumour of his approach, Villareal had 
sent a detachment of eighty men to watch the motions 
oi the enemy. This corps was surrounded: De Gour- 
gues attacked it in person; Casenova prevented their 
retreat, and they were cut in pieces. This battle so 
terrified the Spaniards in the fort, that they no longer 
thought of defending it ; they precipitately escaped and 
fled into the forests ; but they were there received by 
the Indians, who shot them with their arrows. The 
few who fell living into the hands of the conqueror, 
were hung on the same trees where, three years be- 
fore, they had hung the French. It is said that Me- 
lendez had attached to the place of execution the 
following inscription : " I do not treat them thus as 
Frenchmen, but as Protestants." De Gourgues placed 
the following inscription over his victims : " I do not 
this as unto Spaniards or mariners, but as unto traitors, 
robbers, and murderers." 

The commander had not men enough to keep pos- 
session of the forts, and to establish themselves in a 
country where the Spaniards could easily collect a 
more numerous body of troops : he made the Indians 
destroy the fortifications, after having conveyed to his 
ships the pieces of artillery he found there. Casenova 
was charged to conduct this convoy to the river Seine, 
where the large ships had been left, and De Gourgues 
proceeded by land to the same point, with eighty mus- 
keteers, carrying with them lighted matches, and forty 
sailors armed with pikes. The Indians came from all 



88 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

parts to honour him as their deliverer: he received 
them with many testimonials of friendship, and accord- 
ing to their wishes promised to return in twelve moons 
His vessels were in a good condition and ready to sail' 
he embarked May 3d, 1558; his passage was pros- 
perous: he sailed eleven hundred leagues in seventeen 
days and continuing his voyage, arrived at Rochelle on 
the 6th of June After having received in this city the 
most distinguished honours, he embarked for Bour- 
deaux, and hastened to give an account of his expedi- 
tion to Montluc, who had favoured him, and who was 
then in the central part of France. 

The report of this courageous enterprise was soon 
every where spread, and the Spanish vessels, which were 
cruising along the shores, hastened towards the entrance 
of the port of Rochelle to arrest De Gourgues on his 
passage; but they arrived too late. This officer had 
departed. They followed him to the entrant of the 
boronde, and ascended this river to Blaye without be- 
ing able to come up with him. De Gourgues after- 
wards went to Paris. He offered his services to the 
king, and proposed a plan for reducing to his authority 
the country he had discovered; but the Spanish go- 
vernment endeavoured to obtain justice from Charles 
1A. tor this bloody outrage: they represented it as a 
crime against the alliance formed by the two courts, 

fn In G , our S ue / was forced to % to Rouen, and keep 
in concealment for some time. 1 

This expedition will remain in history as a remark- 
able monument of patriotism and intrepidity; but in 
honouring it under this title, we must lament an age in 
which such terrible reprisals were considered as an act 
oi justice The reprisal not only reached the guilty 
t fell on the innocent, and mingled the grossest injus- 
tice with revenge. J 

De Gourgues, persecuted and afterwards neglected 
by his sovereign, found strangers more benevoltnt to- 
wards him: Elizabeth, queen of England, gladly re- 
ceived him on account of his merit ; and Don Antonio, 



REFLECTIONS. 



89 



who pretended to the succession of Sebastian, king of 
Portugal, chose him, twelve years after, to be admiral 
of the fleet which he had armed against Spain ; but De 
Gourgues was now enfeebled by age, and died before 
he had entered upon his duties. 

The countries which this enterprising man had 
wished to reconquer, were now forgotten. They had 
cost useless sacrifices ; an improvident policy had 
caused them to be abandoned; and if w r e inquire into 
the causes which made these great enterprises mis- 
carry, we shall find them especially in the want of 
union. The men belonging to the first expedition were 
no longer in America when the government sent them 
its tardy assistance. Those of the second were pre- 
paring to quit their fortress ; they had torn down the 
fortifications, and made them unfit to sustain a siege, 
when they were suddenly assaulted by an enemy supe- 
rior in numbers. These contrarieties would not have 
taken place, had the project of founding a colony been 
executed with a spirit of union, which alone is suffi- 
cient to assure success. 

But the character of Protestants, impressed on this 
new colony, exposed it, from its origin, to all the perse- 
cutions directed at that time in France against the Cal- 
vinists. It could not expect any assistance from the 
sovereign, when the reformers were at war with him. 
It was protected only during the truces which were 
sometimes made; but then the opportunity was lost, 
the fruit of their former labours could not be gathered 
in time, and the evil became irremediable when the 
government itself considered as mortal enemies all per- 
sons who were not of the Catholic faith. 

The other governments of Europe, if they did not 
show themselves more tolerant towards those* who had 
a different faith, had at least a policy more enlightened 
and more happy in its results. They exiled a part of 
the dissenters, and encouraged the others to emigrate ; 
but they sent them from home into their colonies ; they 
followed them with their supervision, and protected 
8* 



90 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



them in their places of refuge : they only saw in these 
new establishments an increase of the power of the 
mother country. It was extending beyond the seas her 
power, commerce, and industry ; and it opened to men 
discontented with their situation, another career and a 
new field for hope. 



CHAPTER II. 



EARLY INDIAN WARS OF VIRGINIA. 

REVIOUS to the final set- 
tlement of Virginia, many 
attempts at colonization 
were made on the soil of 
the United States. Seve- 
ral expeditions were sent 
to the coasts of Maine; 
and all readers of Ameri- 
can history are familiar 
with the repeated unsuc- 
cessful attempts of Sir 
Walter Raleigh to establish a permanent colony in 
Roanoke, in North Carolina. At length, James I., 
having divided that portion of North America which 
extends from the thirty-eighth to the forty-fifth de- 
gree of north latitude, into two portions, the one 
called the first or south colony of Virginia, and the 
other the second or north colony, authorized Sir 
Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers* and their asso- 
ciates in London, to settle any part of the former 
which they might choose ; and several knights, gentle- 
men, and merchants, of Bristol and Plymouth, com- 




SETTLEMENT OF THE ENGLISH. 



91 



mo^.ly called the Plymouth company, to occupy the 
latter. 

After the lapse of a hundred and ten years from the 
discovery of the continent by Cabot, and twenty-two 
years after its first occupation by Raleigh, were the 
number of the English colonists limited to a hundred 
md five ; and this handful of men proceeded to execute 
the arduous task of peopling a remote and uncultivated 
land, covered with woods and marshes, and inhabited 
only by tribes of savages and beasts of prey. 

Newport and his squadron, pursuing for some un- 
known reason the ancient circuitous track to America, 
did not accomplish their voyage in a shorter period 
than four months; but its termination was rendered 
peculiarly fortunate by the effect of a storm which 
overruled their destination to Roanoke, and carried 
them into the bay of Chesapeake. As they advanced 
into the bay that seemed to invite their approach, they 
beheld all the advantages of this spacious haven, re- 
plenished by the waters of so many great rivers that 
fertilize the soil of that extensive district of America, 
and affording commodious inlets into the interior parts, 
facilitate their foreign commerce and mutual communi- 
cation. Newport first landed on a promontory forming 
the southern boundary of the bay, which, in honour of 
the Prince of Wales, he named Cape Henry. Thence 
coasting the southern shore, he entered a river which 
the natives called Powhatan, and explored its banks 
for the space of forty miles from its mouth. Strongly 
impressed with the superior advantages of the coast 
and region to which they had been thus happily con- 
ducted, the adventurers unanimously determined to 
make this the place of their abode. They gave to their 
infant settlement, as well as to the neighbouring river, 
the name of their king; and Jamestown retains the 
distinction of being the oldest existing habitation of the 
English in America. 

But the dissensions that broke out among the colo- 
nists soon threatened to deprive them of all the advan- 
tages of their well-selected station. Their animosities 



92 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES 

dexterity. The names of thViV^ 1011 ° f P° litlca] 
them was inclosed ,n * C01 ?'™ SS101 ? contained 

were to be installed into thf " office fln ?t T" 86 ? 0 ? 8 
own president TkT a- • and t0 e,ect the ir 
vovaae and , kJ dlss f™°ns incident to a W 

me relations they were to occupy towards each oth^r 
and of the subordination which their veZwf Jl ' 

ra"e had f' Wh ° Se su P e ™' talents and cou- 

cions of the person I T ' , jealous SUS P J - 
restrainpH L P had been elect ed president 

attacks characteristic of the ,S „ ? he e savalt" 
proached, the accusers of s! 1 J • de P arture a P- 
"ewpo! t, instead of being prosecuted in Virginia. But, 



THE INDIANS BRING PROVISIONS. 



93 



happily for the colony, he scorned so to compromise 
his integrity; and demanding a trial, was honourably 
acquitted, and took his seat in the council. 

The fleet had been better victualled than the stores 
of the colony; and while it remained with them, the 
colonists were permitted to share the abundance enjoyed 
by the sailors. But when Newport set sail for England, 
they found themselves limited to scanty supplies of un- 
wholesome provisions : and the sultry heat of the cli- 
mate, and moisture of a country overgrown with wood, 
concurring with the defects of their diet, brought on 
diseases that raged with fatal violence. Before the 
month of September, one half of their number had per- 
ished, and among them was Bartholomew Gosnold, who 
had planned the expedition, and eminently contributed 
to its accomplishment. This scene of distress was 
heightened by internal dissensions. The president was 
accused of embezzling the stores, and finally detected 
in an attempt to seize a pinnace and escape from the 
colony and its calamities. At length, in the extremity 
of their distress, when ruin seemed alike to impend 
from famine and the fury of the savages, the colony 
was delivered from danger by a supply which the piety 
of Smith is not ashamed to ascribe to the influence of 
God in suspending the passions and controlling the sen- 
timents of men. The savages, actuated by a sudden 
change of feeling, presented them w r ith a supply of pro- 
visions so abundant as at once to dissipate their appre- 
hensions of famine and hostility. 

Resuming their spirit, the colonists now proved them- 
selves not entirely uninstructed by their misfortunes. In 
seasons of exigency, merit is illustrated, and the envy 
that pursues it, absorbed by interest and alarm. Their 
sense of common and inevitable danger suggested and 
enforced submission to the man whose talents were 
most likely to extricate them from the difficulties with 
which they were surrounded. Every eye was now 
turned on Smith, and all willingly devolved on him the 
authority w T hich they had formerly evinced so much 
jealousy of his acquiring. This eminent person, whose 



94 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES 

SKEW. Li " C * Sl ; k -K'oalo^ 
tent 101 tune. At a very early age his ardent mind had 
been strongly smitten with the spirit of adveiTre that 
prevailed so powerfully in England during the reL of 
Elizabeth; and, yielding to his inclination! he had 
passed through a vast variety of military service! whh 
h« e gam, but great reputation, and with the acqu shin 
of an experience the more valuable that it was fined 
without exhausting his ardour or tainting fab S 
The vigour of his constitution had preserved hi "heal h 
unimpaired amidst the general sickness; his tmlunted 

unclouded amidst the general misery and deTechon 
and he ardour of his disposition, which once sleeted 

fe? to d?ffus e e F ° aCh ° f °J erw r ing ambition, wa now 
ieit to diffuse an animating glow of hone snrl ,nn,o 
among all around him. A°st?ong Ise Tf elgLTpS 
dominated in the mind of this superior man, combined 
and subordinated all his faculties, refreshed STion 
hdenee extended and yet regulated his views, and gave" 
dignity to his character, and consistency to his conduit 
Assuming the direction of the affairs of the coloniS' 
he instantly adopted the only plan that could save them 
S?£oS?T ^redirections James-Totn 
was fortified by such defences as were sufficient to 
repel the attacks of the savages; and, by dint of licit 
labour, which he was always the foremolt to sharf the 
colonists were provided with dwellings that aflS£ 
shelter from the weather, and contributed to restore and 
preserve their health. Finding the supplies of the sa 
vages discontinued, he put himself at the head of a 
detachment of his people, and penetrated imo he 
country; and by courtesy and liberality to the bribes 
whom he found well disposed, and vigorously repel hS 
the hostilities of such as were otherwise minded hf 

in the midst ot his successes he was surprised on an 
expedition, by a hostile body of savages^ having 



(96) 



CAPTAIN SMITH A PRISONER. 



97 



succeeded in making him prisoner, after a gallant and 
nearly successful defence, prepared to inflict on him 
the usual fate of their captives. His eminent faculties 
did not desert him on this trying occasion. He desired, 
to speak with the sachem or chief, and, presenting him 
with a mariner's compass, expatiated on the wonderful 
discoveries to which it had led, described the shape of 
the earth, the vastness of its lands and oceans, the 
course of the sun, the varieties of nations, and the sin- 
gularity of their relative positions, which made some 
of them antipodes to the others. With equal prudence 
and magnanimity he refrained from all solicitations for 
his life, which would only have weakened the impres- 
sion which he hoped to produce. The savages listened 
with amazement and admiration. They had handled 
the compass, and viewing with surprise the play of the 
needle, which they plainly saw, but found it impossible 
to touch, from the intervention of the glass, this mar- 
vellous object prepared their minds for the reception of 
those vast impressions by which their captive endea- 
voured to gain ascendency over them. For an hour 
after he had finished his harangue, they seem to have 
remained undecided; till their habitual sentiments re- 
viving, they resumed their suspended purpose, and, 
having bound him to a tree, prepared to dispatch him 
with their arrows. But a stronger impression had been 
made on their chief; and his soul, enlarged for a season 
by the admission of knowledge, or subdued by the influ- 
ence of wonder, revolted from the dominion of habitual fe- 
rocity. This chief was named Opechancanough, and des- 
tined at a future period to invest his barbarous name with 
terror and celebrity. Holding up the compass in his hand, 
he gave the signal of reprieve, and Smith, though still 
guarded as a prisoner, was conducted to a dwelling where 
he was kindly treated, and plentifully entertained. (See 
Engraving, on the opposite page.) But the strongest im- 
pressions pass away, while the influence of habit remains. 
After vainly endeavouring to prevail on their captive 
to betray the English colony into their hands, they refer- 
red his fate to Powhatan, the king or principal sachem of 
9 



9S INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES, 

the country, to whose presence thev conducted him in 
triumphal procession. The king received him with 
much ceremony, ordered a plentiful repast to be set 
before him. and then adjudged him to suffer death be- 
having his head laid on a stone and beat to piece- with 

club- At the r^ii^ F-nr^nin'-pH fnr rhi- UrKn^-,, 

L1UL -' - rLL Lilc pio-^c appuiiiieu ioi mis uai Parous execu- 
tion, he was again rescued from impending fate bv the 
interposition of Pocahontas, the favourite^daughter'of 
the king. who. finding her firs: entreaties disregarded, 
threw her arms around the prisoner, and declared her 
determination to save him or die with him. Her Gene- 
rous affection prevailed over the crueltv of her Tribe, 
and the king not only gave Smith his life! but soon after 
sent him back to James-Town, where the beneficence of 
Pocahontas continued to follow him with simnlie* of 
provisions that delivered the colonv from famine. 

After an absence of seven weeks. Smith returned to 
James-Town, barely in time to prevent the desertion of 
the colonv. His associates, reduced to the number of 
thirty-eight, impatient of farther stay in a country 
where they had met with so manv discouragements, 
and where thev seemed fated to re-enact the di-a^ers 
of Roanoke, were preparing to abandon the settlement- 
and it was not without the" utmost difficulty, and alter- 
nately employing persuasion, remonstrance.' and even 
violent interierence. that Smith prevailed with them to 
relinquish their design. The provisions that Poca- 
hontas had sent to him relieved their present want- : 
his account of the plenty he had witnessed among the 
savages revived their hopes ? and he endeavoured, bv 
a diligent improvement of the favourable impressions 
he had made upon the savages, and bv a "judicious 
regulation of the intercourse between them" and "the 
colonists, to effect a union of interests and mutual par- 
ticipation of advantages between the two races of peo- 
ple. His generous efforts were su^ce--ful ■ hp r^*pr\-eJ 
plena among tne .Lngiisn. and extended his influence 
and repute among the Indians, who began to respect 
and consult their former captive as a superior bein^. 
If Smith had sought only to magnify his own repufe 



SMITH'S ATTEMPTS TO CONVERT THE INDIANS. 99 



and establishing his dominion, he might easily have 
passed with the savages for a demigod: for they were 
not more averse to yield the allegiance which he 
claimed for their Creator, than forward to render it to 
himself, and to embrace every pretension he might ad- 
vance in his own behalf. Bat no alluring prospect of 
dominion over men could tempt him to forget that he 
was the servant of God, or aspire to be regarded in 
any other light by his fellow-creatures. He employed 
his best endeavours to divert the savages from their 
idolatrous superstition, and made them all aware that 
the man whose superiority they acknowledged despised 
their false deities, adored the true God, and obtained 
from Him, by prayer, the wisdom they so highly com- 
mended. The effect of his pious endeavours was ob- 
structed by imperfect acquaintance with their language, 
and very ill seconded by the conduct of his associates, 
which contributed to persuade the Indians that his reli- 
gion was something peculiar to himself. The influence, 
too, of human superiority, however calculated to im- 
press, is by no means formed to convert the mind. It 
is so apt to give a wrong direction to the impressions 
which it produces, and is so remote from the channel 
in which Christianity from the beginning has been 
appointed to flow, that the first and most successful 
efforts to convert mankind were made by men who 
possessed little of it, and who renounced the little they 
possessed. Smith, partly from the difficulties of his 
situation, partly from the defectiveness of his instruc- 
tion, and, doubtless, in no small degree, from the stub- 
born blindness and wilful ignorance of the persons he 
attempted to instruct, succeeded no farther than Heriot 
had formerly done. The savages extended their respect 
for the man to a Being whom they termed ;i the God 
of Captain Smith," and some of them acknowledged 
that this Being excelled their own deities in the same 
proportion that artillery excelled bows and arrows, and 
sent to James-Town to entreat that Smith would pray 
for rain when their idols seemed to refuse a supply. 
While the affairs of the colony were thus prosperous 



100 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

under the direction of Captain Smith, a reinforcement 
of a hundred and twenty men, with an abundant stock 
of provisions, and a supply of seeds and instruments of 
husbandry, arrived in two vessels from England Uni 
versal joy was excited among the colonists by this 
accession to their comforts and their force. 

Of the recruits which were thus furnished to the 
colony a large proportion were gentlemen jewellers 
and refiners of gold Some of thg latter fancied they 
had discovered gold dust in a small stream of water 
near James-Town; and instantly the whole attention of 
the colonists was directed to the collection of this ma- 
tenal, of which a large quantity was shipped to Eng- 
land, and found to be worthless dross. S 
While the colonists were thus occupied, Captain 
Smith explored the whole coast of Chesapeake bay! 
and furnished a valuable map of his discoveries, which 
has formed the groundwork of all subsequent aehnea- 
tons. On his return he was chosen president of the 
council; which office he discharged with consummate 

What one governor afterwards effected in this re- 
spect by the weight of an imposing rank, and others by 
the strong engine of martial law, Smith, without these 
advantages, and with greater success, accomplished by 
the continual application of his own vigour and activity. 

IctZ 7^, ?™ e u d 3gainst hin ^ but theg e he de- 
tected and defeated without either straining or compro- 
mising h ls authority. The caprice and sulpicion Xhe 
Indians assailed him with numberless trials of his em! 

FhJ ft? VT Clty K Ev6n Powl ^an, notwithstanding 
the friendly ties that united him to his ancient gues? 
was induced by the treacherous artifices of cfS 
Dutchmen, who deserted to him from James-Town! 
fust to form a secret conspiracy, and then to excite 
and prepare open hostility against the colonists. Some 
of ne fraudful designs of the royal savage were re- 
vealed by the unabated kindness of Pocahontas, others 
were detected by Captain Smith, and from them ai he 
contrived to extricate the colony with honour and sue! 



SMITH RETURNS TO ENGLAND, 



101 



cess, and yet with little, and only defensive, bloodshed ; 
displaying to the Indians a vigour and dexterity they 
could neither overcome nor overreach — a courage that 
commanded their respect, and a generosity that car- 
ried his victory into their minds, and reconciled sub- 
mission with their pride. In thus demonstrating (to use 
his own words) " what small cause there is that men 
should starve or be murdered by the savages, that have 
discretion to manage them with courage and industry/' 
he bequeathed a valuable lesson to his successors in the 
American colonies, and to all succeeding settlers in the 
vicinity of savage tribes ; and in exemplifying the 
power of a superior people to anticipate the cruel and 
vulgar issue of battle, and to prevail over an inferior 
race without either extirpating or enslaving them, he 
obtained a victory which Caesar, with all his boasted 
superiority to the rest of mankind, was too ungenerous 
to appreciate, or was incompetent to achieve. 

But Smith was not permitted to complete the work 
he had so honourably begun. A wound received from 
an explosion of gunpowder compelled his return to 
England. 

We pass over the events immediately subsequent to 
his departure, which took place in October, 1609. It 
was in the year 1613, and under the administration of 
Sir Thomas Gates, that an event took place of unusual 
interest to the readers of Indian history. 

The colony of Virginia had once been saved, in the 
person of its own deliverer Captain Smith, by Poca- 
hontas, the daughter of the Indian king Powhatan. 
She had ever since maintained a friendly intercourse 
with the English, and she was destined now to render 
them a service of the highest importance. A scarcity 
prevailing at James-Town, and supplies being obtained 
but scantily and irregularly from the neighbouring In- 
dians, with whom the colonists were often embroiled, 
Captain Argal was dispatched to the Potomac for a 
cargo of corn. Here he learned that Pocahontas was 
living in retirement at no great distance from him ; 
and hoping, bv possession of her person, to obtain such 
9* 



102 INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. 

an ascendant over Powhatan as would enforce an am- 
ple contribution of provisions, he prevailed on her, bv 
some artifice, to come on board his vessel, and then set 
sail with her to James-Town, where she was detained 
in a state of honourable captivity. But Powhatan 
more indignant at such treachery than overcome by his 
misfortune, rejected with scorn the demand of a ran- 
som; he even refused to hold any communication with 
the robbers who still kept his daughter a prisoner, but 
declared that if she were restored to him he would for- 
get the injury and, feeling himself at liberty to regard 
them as friends, would gratify all their wishes. But 
the colonists were too conscious of not deserving the 
performance of such promises, to be able to give credit 
to them; and the most injurious consequences seemed 
like y to arise from the unjust detention, which they 
could no longer continue with advantage nor relinquish 
with safety, when all at once the aspect of affairs un- 
derwent a surprising and beneficial change. During 
her residence in the colony, Pocahontas, who is repre- 
sented as a woman distinguished by her personal 
attractions, made such impression on Mr. Rolfe a 
young man of rank and estimation among the settlers, 
that he offered her his hand, and, with her approbation 
and the warm encouragement of the governor, solicited 
the consent of Powhatan to their marriage: this the 
old prince readily granted, and sent some of his rela- 
tions to attend the ceremonial, which was performed 
with extraordinary pomp, and laid the foundation of a 
firm and sincere friendship between his tribe and the 
■Lnglish. This happy event also enabled the colonial 
government to conclude a treaty with the Chiccahomi- 
mes, a brave and martial tribe, who consented to 
acknowledge themselves subjects to the British mon- 
arch, and style themselves henceforward Englishmen 
to assist the colonists with their arms in war, and to' 
pay an annual tribute of Indian corn. 

From this period till the year 1622 no considerable 
Indian war occurred in Virginia. During this interval, 
Powhatan, who was, on the whole, rather friendly to 



STATE OF THE COLONY. 



108 



the colonists, had died and been succeeded in his in- 
fluence over the Indian tribes of the vicinity by Ope- 
chancanough, who was the implacable bat secret 
enemy of the English. The colony had been steadily 
advancing in peace and prosperity, and the people had 
thrown off the vigilance so necessary to their preserva- 
tion among powerful and hostile tribes of savages. 
They thought themselves secure. 

But a cloud had been for some time gathering over 
the colony, and even the circumstances that most forci- 
bly indicated the growing prosperity of the planters 
w 7 ere but inviting and enabling the storm to burst with 
more destructive violence on their heads. Externally 
at peace with the Indians, unapprehensive of danger, 
and wholly engrossed with the profitable cultivation of 
their fertile territory, their increasing numbers had 
spread so extensively over the province, that no less 
than eighty settlements had already been formed ; and 
every planter being guided only by his own conve- 
nience or caprice in the choice of his dwelling, and 
more disposed to shun than to court the neighbourhood 
of his countrymen, the settlements were universally 
straggling and uncompact. The Scriptures, which the 
colonists received as their rule of faith, bore ample tes- 
timony to the cruelty and treachery of mankind in their 
natural state; and their past experience might have 
convinced them that the savages by w T hom they were 
surrounded could claim no exemption from this testi- 
mony of Divine wisdom and truth. Yet the pious 
labours by which the evil dispositions of the Indians 
might have been overcome, and the military exercises 
1 and precautions by which their hostility might have 
been overawed or repelled, were equally neglected by 
the colonists, while, at the same time, they contributed 
to fortify the martial habits of the Indians by employ- 
ing them as hunters, and enlarged their resources of 
destruction by furnishing them with fire-arms, w r hich 
they quickly learned to use with dexterity. The mar- 
riage of Mr. Rolfe and Pocahontas had not produced 
as lasting a good understanding between the English 



104 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

and the Indians as it had at first seemed to betoken. 
Iiie Indians eagerly courted a repetition of such inter- 
marriages, and were deeply offended with the pride 
with which the English receded from their advances, 
and declined to become the husbands of Indian women, 
ihe colonists forgot that they had inflicted this mortifi- 
cation ; but it was remembered by the Indians, who 
never forgave an affront. Xumberless earnest recom- 
mendations had been transmitted from England to 
attempt the conversion of the savages; but the*e 
recommendations had not been enforced by a sufficient 
attention to the means requisite for their execution, 
let they were not wholly neglected by the colonists, 
borne _ attempts at conversion were made by a few 
pious individuals, and the success of one of them un- 
doubtedly mitigated the dreadful calamity that was 
impending: but these efforts were feeble 'and partial, 
and the majority of the colonists had contented them- 
selves with cultivating a friendly intercourse and inti- 
mate acquaintance with the Indians, who were admitted 
at all times into their habitations, and encouraged to 
consider themselves as familiar guests. It was in the 
midst of this free and unguarded" intercourse that the 
Indians formed, with cold and unrelenting deliberation, 
the p an for a general massacre of the English, which 
should involve every man. woman and child in the 
colony in indiscriminate slaughter. The death of Pow- 
hatan, m 1618, devolved the power of executing a 
scheme so detestable in the hands of a man fully capa- 
ble ot contriving and maturing it. Opeehancanough, 
who succeeded, not only to the supremacy over Pow- 
hatan s trice, out to his influence over all the neigh- 
bouring tribes of Indians, was distinguished by Ids 
learless courage, his profound dissimulation, and a ran- 
corous hatred and jealousy of the new inhabitants of 
America He renewed the pacific treaty which Pow- 
hatan had made, and faithfully kept, with the English 

availed himself ot the tranquillity it produced to pre- 
pare, during the four ensuing years, his friends and 



CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE ENGLISH. 



105 



followers for the several parts they were to act in the 
tragedy he projected. The tribes in the neighbourhood 
of the English, except those on the eastern shore, whom, 
on account of their peculiar friendship for the colonists, 
he did not venture to intrust with the plan, were suc- 
cessively gained over ; and all co-operated with thaj 
single-mindedness and intensity of purpose characteris- 
tic "of a project of Indian revenge. Notwithstanding 
the long interval that elapsed between the formation 
and the execution of their present enterprise, and the 
perpetual intercourse that subsisted between them and 
the white people, the most impenetrable secresy was 
preserved ; and so consummate and fearless was their 
dissimulation, that they were accustomed to borrow 
boats from the English to cross the river, in order to 
concert and communicate the progress of their design. 

An incident, which, though minute, is too curious to 
be omitted, contributed to sharpen the ferocity of the 
Indians by the sense of recent provocation. There 
was a man, belonging to one of the neighbouring tribes, 
named Nemattanow, who, by his courage, craft, and 
good fortune, had attained the highest repute among his 
countrymen. In the skirmishes and engagements which 
their former wars with the English produced, he had 
exposed his person with a bravery that commanded 
their esteem, and an impunity that excited their aston- 
ishment. They judged him invulnerable, whom so 
many wounds seemed to have approached in vain: and 
the object of their admiration partook, or at least en- 
couraged, the delusion which seemed to invest him 
with a character of sanctity. Opechancanongh, the 
king, whether jealous of this man's reputation, or de- 
sirous of embroiling the English with the Indians, sent 
a message to the governor of the colony, to acquaint 
him that" he was welcome to cut Nemattanow's throat. 
Such a representation of Indian character as this mes- 
sage conveyed, one would think, ought to have excited 
the strongest suspicion and distrust in the minds of the 
English. Though the offer of the king was disregarded, 
his wishes were not disappointed. Nemattanow, having 



106 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES 



murdered a planter, was shot by one of his servants in 
an attempt to apprehend him. Finding the pangs of 
death coming strong upon him, the pride, but not the 
vanity, of the savage was subdued, and he entreated 
his captors to grant his two last requests, one of which 
was that they would never reveal that he had been 
slain by a bullet, and the other, that they would bury 
him among the English, that the secret of his mortality 
might never be known to his countrymen. The request 
seems to infer the possibility of its being complied with, 
and the disclosure of the fatal event was no less impru- 
dent than disadvantageous. The Indians were filled with 
grief and indignation ; and Opechancanough inflamed 
their anger by pretending to share it. Having coun- 
terfeited displeasure for the satisfaction of his subjects, 
he_ proceeded with equal success to counterfeit placa- 
bility for the delusion of his enemies, and assured the 
English that the sky should sooner fall than the peace 
be broken by him. But the plot now advanced rapidly 
to its maturity, and, at length, the day was fixed on 
which all the English settlements were at the same 
instant to be attacked. The respective stations of the 
various troops of assassins were assigned to them ; and 
that they might be enabled to occupy them without ex- 
citing suspicion, some carried presents of fish and game 
into the interior of the colony, and others presented 
themselves as guests soliciting- the hospitality of their 
English friends, on the evening before the massacre. - 
As the fatal hour drew nigh, the rest, under various 
pretences, and with every demonstration of kindness, 
assembled around the detached and unguarded settle- 
ments of the colonists ; and not a sentiment of com- 
punction, not a rash expression of hate, nor an un- 
guarded look of exultation, had occurred to disconcert 
or disclose^the designs of their well-disciplined ferocity. 

The universal destruction of the colonists seemed 
unavoidable, and was prevented only by the conse- 
quences of an event which perhaps appeared but of 
little consequence in the colony at the time when it 
took place— the conversion of an Indian to the Chris- 



MASSACRE OF THE ENGLISH, 



107 



tian faith. On the night before the massacre, this man 
was made privy to it by his own brother, who commu- 
nicated to him the command of his king and his coun- 
trymen to share in the exploit that would enrich their 
race with spoil, revenge and glory. The exhortation 
was powerfully calculated to impress a savage mind ; 
but a new mind had been given to this convert, and as 
soon as his brother left him he revealed the alarming 
intelligence to an English gentleman in whose house 
he was residing. This planter immediately carried the 
tidings to James-Town, from whence the alarm was 
communicated to the nearest settlers, barely in time to 
prevent the last hour of the perfidious truce from being 
the last hour of their lives. 

But the intelligence came too late to be more gene- 
rally available. At midday, the moment they had 
previously fixed for this execrable deed, the Indians, 
raising a universal yell, rushed at once on the English 
in all their scattered settlements, and butchered men, 
women and children with undistinguishing fury, and 
every aggravation of brutal outrage and enormous 
cruelty. In one hour, three hundred and forty-seven 
persons were cut off, almost without knowing by whose 
hands they fell. The slaughter would have been still 
greater if the English, even in some of those districts 
where the warning that saved others did not reach, 
had not flown to their arms with the energy of despair, 
and defended themselves so bravely as to repulse the 
assailants, who almost universally" displayed a cow- 
ardice proportioned to their cruelty, and fled at the 
sight of arms in the hands even of the women and boys, 
whom, unarmed, they were willing to attack and de- 
stroy. If in this foul and revolting exhibition of hu- 
manity some circumstances appear to be referable to 
the peculiarities of savage life and education, we shall 
greatly err if we overlook, in its more general and im- 
portant features, the testimony it has given to the deep 
depravity of fallen nature. More than one example 
may be found in the contemporary history of Europe, 
which, impartially considered, present, not only a bar- 



108 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITS) STATES. 

SiS Pe ° P t le ' b i a d f ized nation and a ° accom. 
pushed court, as the rivals of these American savages 
m perfidy, fury and cruelty. 6 

The colony had received a wound no less deep and 
dangerous, than painful and alarming. Six of the 
members of council and many of thl most eminent 
and respectable inhabitants, were among the slain at 
some of the settlements the whole of their population 
had been exterminated; at others a remnant had 
escaped the general destruction by the efforts of des- 
pair ; and the survivors were impoverished, terrified 

them off ° U 1 6d b /r a Sh '° ke at once ' berea ed 
them of friends and fortune, and showed that they were 

surrounded by legions of enemies, whose existence hev 

had never dreamed of, and whose brutality and ferl 

Ihan^en T° P t,° Claim * raCS ° f fi ^ds ra ^r 

tnan men. To the massacre succeeded a vindictive 

InL™ T^ g W f r betWeen the En S lish a «d the 
Indian,; and the colonists were at last provoked to 
re abate, ,n some degree, on their savage adveTsariet 
he evils of winch they had set so bloody an exam* 
and which seemed to be the only weapons capable of 
wagmg effectual war upon them. Yet though a dire- 
ful necessity might seem to justify or palliate the mea 
sures which it taught the colonists to apprehend and 
provide for, their warfare was never waolly diveS 
of honour and magnanimity. During this disastrous 
period, the design for erecting a colonial college and 

numL^^li? inStitUtiODS ' W3S ab -doned ' t 
numbei of the settlements was reduced from eighty to 

horUlftr affiCti °" ° f ™ added 

Ji h0 J l0S * lh y of Opechancanough did not terminate 
with ther massacre. His implacable disposition was 
manifested late m 1622, by his instigating Japazaut 
Caltam ctJw^?™' X ° ^ a P-'t" under 

hi S Zt?v w ' whl,e 011 a tradlH = e ^ tio » ™ 



cesslul in revenging the great massacre on their ene- 



FURTHER INDIAN HOSTILITIES. 



109 



mies; and it is affirmed that in the autumn and winter 
of 1622-3, more Indians were slain than had ever be- 
fore fallen by the hands of the English since the settle- 
ment of James-Town. 

But Opechancanough was still able to make a 
formidable opposition to his enemies, and at a battle 
which took place at his own village of Pamunkey, in 
1625, his bowmen numbered eight hundred, inde- 
pendently of detachments furnished from distant tribes. 
The English on this occasion were led by Governor 
Wyatt, and although they drove the enemy from the 
field, they were unable to follow them up to their head- 
quarters " at Matapony. An attempt to repeat the 
treacherous scheme by which the Indians had been 
defeated in 1622 was made in 1628; but was frustrated 
by the sagacity of Opechancanough ; and the formal 
treaty of 1632\vas little better than a hollow and de- 
ceitful truce. 

Opechancanough, however, was by no means back- 
ward in taking advantage of the repose afforded by 
this treaty. For the long period which elapsed between 
its conclusion and his final effort, in 1644, he was in- 
dustriously occupied in making preparations for a 
renewal of hostilities. An opportunity at length pre- 
sented itself for executing his long-cherished pur- 
pose. The colony was involved in intestine dissen- 
sions. An insurrection had taken place in consequence 
of the unpopularity of the governor, and at a moment 
when the people were occupied with internal disorders 
and heedless of danger from without, their great enemy 
struck a powerful and almost fatal blow. 

He was now 7 advanced to extreme old age, being 
supposed to have numbered nearly a hundred years, but 
the powers of his mind were still so vigorous, that he 
was the leading spirit of a confederacy embracing all 
the Indian tribes distributed over a space of country 
six hundred miles in extent. Unable to walk, he was 
borne in a litter to the scene of action (April 18th, 
1644,) and thus led his warriors to the attack. Such 
was the skill with which his measures had been con- 
10 



110 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

certed that the whole force of the Indians commenced 
their operations upon the entire line of the frontier at 
the same instant of time, with the intention of carrying 
a war of extermination down to the sea, and thus anni- 
hilating the colony at a single blow. In two days, five 
hundred persons had fallen in the massacre. Of course 
every operation of industry was instantly abandoned,' 
and all who were able to bear arms were embodied to 
oppose so terrible an invasion. Governor Berkeley, at 
the head of a chosen force, consisting of every twen- 
tieth man in the colony, marched into the enemy's 
country, and thus gave him the first check. Of the 
details of the campaign, in consequence of the confu- 
sion a no! distress prevailing at the time, no details are 
turnished by the contemporary historians. Beverly's 
account, the only one which survived the ravages of 
the time, is meagre and unsatisfactory. One result of 
the war, however, is sufficiently well attested, since it 
terminated the horrors of the season. This was the 
capture of the aged Opechancanough, who was sur- 
prised and taken prisoner by a squadron of horse under 
the command of Governor Berkeley, who forthwith 
conducted him in triumph to James-Town. 

It was the governor's intention to have sent this 
remarkable person to England ; but he was shot after 
being taken prisoner, by a soldier, in resentment of the 
calamities he had inflicted on the province. He lin- 
gered under the wound for several days, and died with 
the pride and firmness of an old Roman. Indignant at 
the crowds who came to gaze at him on his death-bed 
he exclaimed : "If I had taken Sir William Berkeley 
prisoner, I would not have exposed him as a show to 
the people." Perhaps he remembered that he had 
saved the life of Captain Smith, and forgot the number- 
less instances in which he had exposed other prisoners 
to public derision and lingering torture. 

After the decease of their great enemy, the colonists 
had no difficulty in concluding a treaty with the In- 
dians, which gave tranquillity to the province for a long 
term of years. ° 



CHAPTER III. 



EARLY INDIAN RELATIONS OF NEW ENGLAND. 




T was on the eighth of 
December, 1620, that the 
first act of hostility on 
the part of the Indians 
towards the Pilgrim Fa- 
thers of New England 
took place. A party of 
eighteen men from the 
May-Flower, under the 
command of Governor 
Carver, were exploring 
the coast, in order to find a suitable place for forming 
a settlement, when a party who had landed were sud- 
denly surprised with the shrill war-cry of the natives, 
and a flight of arrows. They immediately seized their 
arms, and returned this rough salutation with a volley 
of musketry, which instantly put their enemies to flight. 
On the eleventh of the same month, the Pilgrims went 
on shore upon the main land, at the place which they 
called Plymouth. 

As they advanced into the country, they found corn- 
fields, and brooks, and an excellent situation for build- 
ing. " On the morning of the 20th," says the venerable 
Dr. Holmes, " after imploring divine guidance^ they 
went on shore again, to fix on some place for imme- 
diate settlement. After viewing the country, they con- 
cluded to settle on a high ground facing the bay, where 
the land was cleared, and the water was excellent." 

This day, consecrated by the religious act abovemen- 
J " ° (in) 



112 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

tioned, is the one which their descendants still celebrate 
as the day of their landing. 

Before the end of the month, thev had erected a 
store-house for their goods. Two rows of houses were 
begun, and as fast as they could be completed, the peo- 
ple, who were classed into nineteen families, came 
ashore and lodged in them. The hardships to which 
they were exposed, and the severity of the climate 
caused so great a mortality, that before the next April 
nearly half of their number had died. None of the na- 
tives came among them until the sickness had abated. 
_ On the 16th of March, 1621, a savage came boldly 
into the town alone, and, to the astonishment of the 
emigrants, addressed them in these words, " Welcome 
Englishmen ! Welcome, Englishmen !" His name was 
bamoset, and he was a sagamore of a tribe of Indians 
distant five days' journey to the eastward. He had 
learned a few words of English from the fishermen 
who had frequented the shores of his country. By him 
the governor was informed that the place where* they 
now were, was called Patuxet, and, though it was for- 
merly populous, that every human being had died of 
that pestilence which is known to have swept through 
all the Indian tribes of New England, but a short time 
previous to the settlement of the country by the Eng. 
fish. His account was confirmed bv the "extent of the 
deserted fields, the number of graves, and the remnant 
of skeletons scattered on the ground. Bein^ dismissed 
with a present, he returned the next day with five In- 
dians who brought a few skins for trade. On a third 
visit, fcamoset was accompanied by Squanto. one of the 
natives who had been kidnapped by Hunt in 1614 and 
afterwards lived in England. They gave the informa- 
tion that the great sachem Massasoit was in the neigh- 
bourhood with his brother and a number of his people. 
Ihis chief was a sort of emperor among the surround- 
ing tribes, and commanded the homage of all the sa- 
chems in his vicinity. Within an hour, he appeared on 
the top of a hill, over against the English town, with 
sixty men. 



TREATY WITH THE INDIANS. 



113 



"Mutual distrust," says Dr. Holmes, in his account 
of this important and interesting meeting, " prevented 
for some time any advances on either side, Squanto, 
at length, being sent to Massassoit, brought back word, 
that the English should send one of their number to 
parley with him. Mr. Edward Winslow was accord- 
ingly sent. Two knives, and a copper chain, with a 
jewel in it, were sent to Massasoit at the same time; 
and to his brother, a knife, and a jewel, " with a pot of 
strong water," a quantity of biscuit, and some butter, 
all which articles were gladly accepted. Mr. Winslow, 
the messenger, in a speech to Massasoit, signified, that 
King James saluted him with words of love and peace, 
and that the English governor desired to see him, and 
to truck with him, and to confirm a peace with him, as 
his next neighbour. The Indian king heard his speech 
with attention and approbation. After partaking of the 
provision which made part of the English present, and 
imparting the rest to his company, he looked on Mr. 
Winslow's sword and armour with an intimation of his 
desire to buy it ; but found him unwilling to part with 
it. At the close of the interview, Massasoit, leaving 
Mr. Winslow in the custody of his brother, went over 
the brook, which separated him from the English, with 
a train of twenty men, whose bows and arrows were 
left behind. He was met at the brook by Captain 
Standish and Mr. Williamson, with six musketeers, who 
conducted him to a house then in building, where were 
placed a green rug and three or four cushions. The 
governor now advanced, attended with a drum and 
trumpet, and a few musketeers. After mutual saluta- 
tions, the governor called for refreshments, of which 
the Indian king partook himself, and imparted to his 
followers. A league of friendship was then agreed on ; 
and it was inviolably observed above fifty years." 

One of the first acts of the administration of Governor 
Bradford, who, soon after the conclusion of the treaty, 
succeeded Carver, was to send an embassy to Massa- 
soit, for the purpose of confirming the league with the 
Indian sachem ; of procuring seed-corn for the next 
10* 



1 1 4 fiSDUN WARS OF THE UNITED ST KTES. 



which poised compl ; e rir™r„ n ' r E, , 
vented a_ general union of the JfflS SSt 

fctSr 1 °" lerS " K Wuze. S 

In 1625, when the Plymouth settlers were rfi«™„j 
by famine, m consequence of the 

6v nrablel^,, £ * „ £2^t?S« « « 
welcome intruders, declared h? a ho °i iv tf "J 
them n characteristic ehnllenee „£ „, 

ST. - ie undie oV " " *- 

snaRe-skm. The governor sent an answer that 



(116) 



INDIAN PLOT. 



117 



if they chose war rather than peace, they might begin 
when they would, the English were ready. By a dif- 
ferent messenger, and as a more appropriate answer to 
the challenge, the snake-skin was returned, well filled 
with powder and bullets. (See Engraving, on the oppo- 
site page.) This portentous token the Indians refused 
to receive: they were even afraid to let it remain in 
their houses : and, in their superstition, doubtless consi- 
dering it some 1 great medicine,' they caused it to be 
brought back to Plymouth. It put an end. however, to 
the blustering of Canonicus; but his being thus intimi- 
dated did not prevent the English from erecting such 
fortifications about their town as sufficiently secured 
them from being surprised by their savage neighbours. 

Intelligence being received at Plymouth, in 1623, that 
Massasoit was sick and likely to die. the governor sent 
Edward Winslow and John Hampden, with Hobo- 
mack, a friendly Indian, to visit him. It was the good 
fortune of Mr. Winslow, by means of certain cordials 
which he carried with him, to restore this illustrious 
friend of the English to health ; and through Hobomack, 
he received from the sachem information of a plot 
of the Massachusetts tribe against certain English 
settled at Wessagusset, under Mr. Weston : and more- 
over that the Indians of Paomet, Nauset, Mattachiest, 
the Isle of Gapawick, Manomet and Agawaywom were 
joined in the conspiracy; and the great sachem advised 
a decided hostile movement against the conspirators. 

This intelligence being confirmed, Captain Standish 
was ordered to take with him as many men as he 
thought sufficient, and fall upon the conspirators. The 
redoubted captain deemed eight chosen followers an 
ample detachment; and, with this small number, he ac- 
cordingly made a visit to the Massachusetts, where, 
after being insulted and threatened by the Indians, he 
succeeded in decoying four of them, W r ittawamet, Peek- 
suot, another Indian, and a youth of IS, into a room 
with a part of his own men, where he and his party 
killed them all: and being subsequently seconded by 
Weston's men, they killed several more Indians, and 



118 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

after a skirmish, put their main body to flight. This 
decided measure broke up the conspiracy; and the 
other Indians, who had intended to join it, fled to 
swamps and desert places, where they contracted dis- 
eases which carried off many of them ; among whom 
were Canacum, sachem of Manomet; Aspinet, sachem 
ot Alauset; and Ianough, sachem of Matachiest. The 
settlement at Wessagusset was, nevertheless, abandoned 
by the English. 

No incident of particular interest in relation to the 
Indians of New England, took place subsequently to 
this, until the Pequod war of 1637, of which we shall 
give an account in the next chapter. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE PEQUOD WAR. 




| HE Pequods were inha- 
k bitants of that portion of 
New England which is 
now included within the 
limits of the state of Con- 
necticut. This was not 
their original abode, for 
they came from the inte- 
rior of the country, con- 
quered the tribes who re- 
sided in this region, and 
took possession of their lands. At the period in which 
the English arrived, they were the most powerful tribe 
m the neighbourhood, being able to muster four thou- 
sand warriors. The Narragansetts were the only tribe 
who were able to oppose them, and between the two a 
deadly ieud existed. 



TREATY WITH THE PEQUODS. 



119 



Sassacus was the first great sachem of the Pequods 
personally known to the English. His principal for- 
tress was on an eminence in the town of Groton. He, 
as well as his tribe, were, from the first landing of the 
English, of a hostile disposition towards them. He con- 
sidered them as intruders invading his country without 
asking his permission ; building forts and villages in it 
without consulting him ; and he therefore determined 
to take every measure to get rid of them. 

We do not know clearly which party it was that 
gave the first provocation. It is related that Captain 
Stone, while on a voyage to Virginia, in 1633, put into 
the Connecticut river, where he as well as his crew 
were massacred by the Indians. According to the Eng- 
lish accounts, a few of the men went on shore to shoot 
some fowl, and were there murdered. A sachem, with 
a part of his tribe, then came on board the vessel and 
staid till the captain had retired to rest. The sachem 
then dispatched Stone, while the Indians discharged 
such guns as they found loaded, at the men w T ho were 
then in the cook's room. At this moment, the vessel 
was blown up by the powder which was on board of it 
taking fire. Most of the Indians escaped, and they be- 
gan to murder those of the crew who had not been 
destroyed, so that not one of them was left. 

This is the English account of the transaction ; but 
the Indians tell quite a different story. They assert that 
Captain Stone had taken two of their men by force, to 
pilot the vessel up the river. The captain and some of 
his men then went on shore, taking with them the two 
Indians, and were there killed. The vessel was then 
blown up, killing the remainder of the crew : but they 
knew not how this took place. 

A treaty was soon afterwards concluded between 
the Pequods and English. The principal terms were as 
follows : That the English should have as much land in 
Connecticut as they wanted ; that the Pequods should 
give the English four hundred fathoms of wampum ; 
that the English should send a vessel immediately to 
trade with them as friends, though not to protect them. 



120 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The principal object of Sassacus in making this 

S' f? ^ "WS haVe their Com ™™ » 
peace. He had quarrelled with the Dutch of New 

lomt™ iereby lost their custom and inc -- d S 

ganstttf eq A 0d f l W H- 38 US ^ aI L at War with the Narra- 
gansetts. As the Indians who had just completed the 

above treaty were on the eve of departure, news was 

brought that a party of Narragansetts was abouJ to 

waylay and murder them. This party was however 

°/ PT entS f nd P r0mis " S ' Per-aded ^ the 
English to depart quietly to their homes. 

Matters continued in this condition till 1636 In this 

tr e adi„/in h r 01dha t m ' ™ E ^ h ™*> who had been 
Swt g T Connecticut, was murdered in his boat, near 
Block Island, by a party of Indians belonging to that 
place Several of these Indians took refug! amende 
Pequods, and as the latter refused to give them up 
they were cons.dered as abettors of the crime The 

E°nZZ ° f Ma t ssachusetts t^refore sent Captain John 
Endicott against them, with a force of ninety men. He 

vX°l ered t0 „ mak r " ° f P eace with them, pro! 

vided they would deliver up the murderers ; and if they 
refused, he was to declare war. 7 
On the arrival of Endicott and his party in the Pe- 
quod country the Indians retreated Wa swai^, 
where it was difficult to come at them. Only two of 

aZ7Z hlled '\ bUt thG English burnt their 4waml 
treatv 2f h TV™ * WaS dete ™ined to conclude a 
treaty with the Narragansetts, to prevent their joining 

and ffif F r , A tl ! reaty W3S accord i»gJy concluded! 
and the English thus succeeded in obtaining an ally 
which could bring five thousand fighting me! into the 



The Indians were emboldened by Endicott's unsuc- 
cessful expedition. They killed several men and wo- 
men, and about twenty cows. The colony therefore 
determined to take measures to put a stop to their pro! 
ceedings. Accordingly, at the general court held at 
Hartford, it was decided that amorce of ninety men 



DEFEAT OF THE PEQUODS. 



121 



should be immediately raised in Hartford, Windsor, and 
Wethersfield; and the other New England colonies 
agreed to send as many men as they could raise. 

In the beginning of the month of May, a force from 
Connecticut, at the head of whom was John Mason, con- 
sisting of ninety Englishmen, and about seventy Mohe- 
gan Indians under the command of Uncas, their sa- 
chem, departed for the country of the Pequods. When 
they arrived at Saybrook, Mason resolved to send back 
a part of his men to reinforce the settlements on the 
Connecticut. He was soon afterwards joined by a 
great number of Indians, so that w T hen he again set out 
he had under his command seventy-seven Englishmen 
and about five hundred Indians. 

Mason and his party arrived in sight of the Pequod 
fort about sunset. When the Narragansetts learned 
that he meant to attack the enemy in their fortifications, 
a great many of them retired, and the English com- 
mander could hardly persuade the remainder of them 
to form themselves into a semicircle at some distance 
from the fort, in order to waylay such of the Pequods 
as might escape the hands of the English. 

It was nearly daybreak when Mason commenced 
his attack upon the fort. As he drew nigh to it, a dog 
barked, and an Indian sprang up and exclaimed that 
the Englishmen were coming. Had it not been for this 
occurrence, the fort would have been taken by surprise. 
As it was, they made a vigorous resistance, and Mason 
was finally obliged to set fire to the fort. The Pequods 
then attempted to escape, but were nearly all killed. It 
is said that between five and six hundred of them per- 
ished in this engagement. The English loss was two 
men killed and sixteen wounded. 

Sassacus, who was in the other fort, on hearing of 
this battle, sent a force of three hundred men against 
Mason. He was soon met by them ; but the English 
gave them such a check that they retired to the top of 
the hill on which the fort had stood. On perceiving its 
ruins they were so greatly enraged, that, regardless of 
consequences, they rushed down the hill and pursued 



122 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the English for about six miles. Thev, however, 
reached their vessels in safety and returned to Hart- 
ford. 

The three hundred Pequods who had pursued the 
English returned to Sassacus. On deliberation, it was 
thought that they could no longer remain in safety in 
the country. They accordingly dispersed, and Sassa- 
cus, with a party of his warriors, after having de- 
stroyed the village, proceeded towards the Hudson 
river. 

The governor of Massachusetts, on hearing of the 
success of Mason, resolved to send an expedition to 
destroy all the straggling parties which might remain 
in the neighbourhood. A great battle was fought at a 
swamp in Fairfield, between this party and a nume- 
rous body of Indians whom they met there, in which 
a great number of the savages were killed and wounded 
and two hundred taken prisoners. 

Sassacus was not, however, destined to be destroyed 
by the English. A Pequod, whose liberty had been 
granted him on condition of finding and betraying him, 
finally succeeded in his search. He met him, but his 
courage failed and Sassacus escaped. 

He now took refuge among the Mohawks. But these 
Indians, instead of protecting him, put him to death. 
His head was cut off* and sent to Connecticut, and the 
country now became a province of the English. 



CHAPTER V. 



KING PHILIP'S WAR. 




URING the reign of Mas- 
sasoit, the friendly rela- 
tions between the people 
of New England and the 
tribes under his influence, 
remained for the most 
part undisturbed. The 
precise time of his de- 
cease is not known; but 
it is supposed by Hubbard 
that his death took place 
in 1656.* He was succeeded in the sovereignty of the 
Wampanoags by his eldest son, Moanam, or Wamsutta, 
called by the English, Alexander, a name which he re- 
ceived in open court at Plymouth, at the same time that 
the name of Philip was conferred on his younger bro- 
ther. This ceremony was performed at the request of 
the young men, during the life-time of their father, in 
token of their desire to preserve a good understanding 
with the English. 

The reign of Alexander w T as marked by no act of 
hostility towards his white neighbours, nor any misun- 
derstanding, until the circumstances took place which 
terminated the young sachem's life. The flagrant vio- 
lation of justice and international law, by the English, 
involved in this transaction, has doubtless been the oc- 
casion of the hasty and unsatisfactory manner in which 



* Drake dates it 1660. 



(123) 



124 INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. 

it has been passed over by the historians of the lime 

to the act of the Plymouth government. 

fn™ ?fi ea f,, that ^ §overmr and counc " were in- 
formed that Alexander had solicited the NarraganseS 
to join him in a war against the whites; and uLi zoo d 
I*™/ thereof as they said, ordered him to 
toie them. Upon his not instantly complvin* with their 
summons, Mr. Winslow was dispatcher? with ^ armed 
force of eight or ten stout men to bring him (July 1662) 
Meeting him at a wigwam, a few miles from his res I 
dence, feowams* with a body of his followers, Winslow 
surprised the party, seized their arms, and summoned 
he sachem to attend him to Plymouth; at the same 
time threatening him with a pistol at his throat "that if 
he stirred or refused to go, he was a dead man." The 
feelings of grief, indignation and insulted dignity, occa- 
sioned by this requital of his white allies for the fifty 
years of friendship and protection accorded to them by 
his father, threw the high-spirited chief into a raging 
fever. In consideration of his sudden illness, he souehl 
permission to return home, and was allowed to go on 
certain conditions ; but he died upon the way. 

Ihus an independent sovereign of a nation which had 
Preserved the strictest amity for more than fifty years 
with the government of Plymouth, was, upon mere sus- 
picion of hostility, basely surprised and captured within 
his own territory, and literally insulted to death. No 
Indian torture ever inflicted in their most cruel triumphs 
T h * ve ,? qUal,e . d th e mental sufferings inflicted on 
the unoffending prince by this act of ingratitude and 
injustice. Surely, if there were no othe°r, this single 
outrage were cause enough for the famous war of 
King Philip. But there were other causes. 

-Philip, whose Indian name was Metacomet, suc- 

* So warns, Pokanoket or Mount Hope, the principal residence of 
Massasoi and his successors, situated near the town of S3 
Rhode Island. From it Philip receives some of his titles, as £3 
of Pokanoket, Philip of Mount Hope. ' P 



PHILIP PREPARES FOR WAR. 



125 



ceeded his unfortunate brother in the sovereignty of his 
tribe, the Wampanoags. After assuming the govern- 
ment with every demonstration of attachment on the 
part of his people and the subject sachems, he imme- 
diately made his appearance before the court of Ply- 
mouth, after the example of his father and brother, in 
order to renew and confirm the long-existing league 
with the colonists. An apparent good understanding 
subsisted between them for several years after this 
transaction. During this period he appears to have 
been involved in a dispute with the Mohawks, and to 
have lost fifty of his warriors in a battle with them, 
fought in 1669, in which, however, the Wampanoags 
gained the victory, and thus terminated the war. 

The first intimation of misunderstanding between 
Philip and the colonists, was in April, 1671, w T hen the 
sachem complaining of certain encroachments upon his 
planting grounds, on the one hand, and the Plymouth 
government charging him with meditating hostilities, 
and actually arming and training his warriors on the 
other; a formal conference took place between the 
parties at Taunton, at which Philip admitted all that 
w y as alleged against him, promised amendment, and 
with his council signed new terms of submission. It is 
evident, from the whole history of this transaction, that 
Philip had already determined to engage in a war with 
the colonies ; and that his present acknowledgment was 
a mere artifice to gain time. He doubtless had the 
same object in view, when, in August 1671, he paid a 
visit to Boston, and succeeded in completely lulling the 
suspicions of the Massachusetts government, w 7 hom he 
knew T to be more friendly to him than that of Plymouth. 
This proceeding occasioned a new conference with 
Philip at Plymouth, at which the authorities of Massa- 
chusetts as w T ell as those of the old colony w 7 ere present ; 
and a new instrument of submission was signed by 
Philip, containing abundance of promises, which the 
sachem took care never to fulfil. His purpose of gain- 
ing time, however, was fully answered, and nothing 
11* 



126 INDIAN WAKS OF THE DOTTED STATES. 

stas? for three years to rouse the ----- 

the design of that grand enterprise which has 3 
h m the character of the most able and politic^a^weU 
as the most patriotic of Indian chiefs. This was no-* 
hmg less than the union of all the New Endana tnbes 
m a war of extermination asainst the English colonists 
lhe mutual hostilities of the various tribes rendered 
this an undertaking of exceeding difficulty; bat he so 
far succeeded in it as to extend his operations from the 
fet Croix to the Housatonic ; and to involve the coin, 
me in the most formidable war with the natives which 
they have ever had to sustain. As the Indians had no 

wS T 8 ° f ° Wn u the dGtails of his negotiation? 
with the surrounding aboriginal nations are. of course 
unknown. The nature and extent of his operatio^ can 
on v be judged of by their success: and when referred 
to this standard they certainly give us a high opinim of 
his talents as a diplomatist and an orator: By hi= elo 

tribes C l C T rage "it 615 he United ^ *e uorthen, 
a d hf , ; , f nd 11 ° ne untoward circumstance 

and the ungovernable fury of some of the young war- 
no, had not precipitated him into the war twelve 

Tev ented 6 th r : M t0 C ° mme " Ce > and 

piemen ed the perfect maturing of his scheme* it i« 

fi a E e ,, tha H ^ W ° Uld Dearl °' ha - annihilated he 
i sew England colonies. As there are so many popular 
histories of th ls war. we shall condense its leadii °mci 
dents m a summary manner. ~mmg mci 

In 1674 information of Philip's designs was riven to 
the magistrates at Plymouth bv John Sassamom an In- 
dian, who had been educated" at Cambridge and had 

b L^TmFrT an ?° ng Christi --d Indians 
n one ot All. Eliot's settlements. He had subseono-Hv 

arv h'ad H ^ ^T** ° f -nld^fieS t 

tan, had deserted him and turned informer, and still 
occasionally visited 1 his tribe in the character of a spv 
In January, 1675, Sassamon was found to have bee 
murdered and thrust under the ice in Assawomset pond 



WAR OF KING PHILIP, 



127 



in Middleborough. Three Indians, one of whom was 
a counsellor and particular friend of Philip, were con- 
victed of the murder at Plymouth court, in June of the 
same year, and executed. Whether the testimony was 
sufficient to have convicted any one but an Indian, is 
doubtful. Philip, who had undoubtedly directed the 
spy to be privately assassinated, was probably appre- 
hensive that he might himself be surprised, taken to 
Plymouth, tried as an accessary before the fact, and 
executed in the same summary manner as his counsel- 
lor had been. Determined to be beforehand with his 
enemies, he commenced hostilities at once. His tribe, 
the Wampanoags, sent their wives and children to the 
Narragansetts for security, and began to alarm the 
English at Swanzey. From threatening and insulting 
the inhabitants, they proceeded to killing their cattle 
and rifling their houses. Exasperated by these out- 
rages, an Englishman shot one of the Indians ; and 
eight or nine of the English were killed in retaliation. 
This took place on the 24th of June, 1675, thus com- 
mencing the memorable war of King Philip. On the 
same day the alarm of war was spread through Ply- . 
mouth colony. 

On the 28th, a company of foot, under Captain 
Henchman, and a company of horse under Captain 
Prince, with a hundred and ten volunteers, marching 
from Boston, joined the Plymouth forces at Swanzey, 
and marched into Philip's country. Some skirmishing 
took place with the Indians on that and the following 
day, and they retreated, with a trifling loss, into a neigh- 
bouring swamp. 

About the same time the Indians attacked the towns 
of Taunton, Namasket and Dartmouth, burning a con- 
siderable part of the houses and killing many of the 
inhabitants. 

On the 15th of July, Captain Hutchinson marched 
a large force into the country of the Narragansetts, and 
concluded a treaty with that tribe. Meantime a de- 
tachment under Captain Fuller and Lieutenant Church 
was dispatched to Pocasset, where Philip commanded 



128 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES, 



m person. Here a skirmish took place, and the Indians, 
after a loss of fifteen men, were driven into a swamp 
where, as they could not be successfully attacked, it 
was decided to surround and starve them out. But 
rhilip contrived to escape with the greater part of his 
men., and retreated to the country of the Xipmuck* in the 
interior part of Massachusetts/ Captain" Hutchinson, 
with twenty horse, was dispatched to the Nipmucks in 
hopes of reclaiming them: but thev had mre^dv co-- 
menced hostilities by killing five persons at Mendon. 
Hutchinson fell into an ambuscade at Brookfiefd on the 
2d of August, and lost sixteen men: the rest fled to 
Quaboag. The Indians, three hundred in number, pur- 
sued the fugitives to the town, to which thev set fiie 
and drove the inhabitants into a fortified house, which 
they were on the point of taking by storm, when Major 
WiRard arriving with forty-eight dragoons, succeeded 
in dispersing them and relieving the garrison. Philip 
joined the Nipmucks on the next day with forty mem 
and a larger number of women and children. 

About this time the Indians on Connecticut river, near 
Hadley, Hatfield, Deerfield, and also at several places 
on the Merrimack river, commenced their hostilities. 
Captains Lothrop and Beers with a small force drove 
the Hadley Indians from their dwellings, and pursued 
them to Sugarloaf Hill, where a battle took place in 
which ten of the English and twenty-six Indians were 
slam. Those who escaped joined Philip, and a few 
days afterward made an attack upon Deerfield. killing 
one man. and burning several houses. Hadley \\W al 
attacked on the same daw while the inhabitants were 
attending public worship ; but the Indians were repulsed 
by the English, who were led by Gone, en- of the 
judges of Charles L. and who was at that time concealed 
in the town. 

Shortly after these events the Indians made an attack 
on Northfield, and killed several of the inhabitants. On 
the next day. Captain Beers, with thirty-six men.' was 
waylaid and slain, together with twenty of his party 
The soldiers and inhabitants of Northfield were brought 



PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 



129 



off a short time after by Major Treat ; and the town 
was soon after destroyed by the Indians. Captain 
Lothrop was dispatched from Hadley, by the command- 
ing officer of that place, to Deerfield, in order to bring 
back provisions and forage. He arrived at Deerfield 
in safety, with several teams, accompanied by a party 
of eighty men. Having purchased his provisions, he 
set out to return to Hadley. About three miles from 
Deerfield, near Sugarloaf Hill, he was waylaid by a 
body of about seven hundred Indians, and nearly all his 
party were destroyed. He was himself killed in the 
early part of the battle : out of the whole number only 
seven or eight escaped. The report of the guns was 
heard at Deerfield, and Captain Moseiey hastened for- 
ward to the relief of Lothrop. He arrived at the close 
of the battle, and pursued the Indians from one place 
to another, till they were finally compelled to seek safe- 
ty in a distant forest. Soon after the town of Deerfield 
was abandoned by its inhabitants, and destroyed by the 
Indians. 

In October, the Springfield Indians, who had hitherto 
been friendly to the English, laid a plot to burn the 
town of Springfield. They received into their fort 
about three hundred of Philip's Indians. This plot was, 
however, disclosed by a friendly Indian, and Major 
Treat was ^ dispatched with a body of troops to defeat 
their intentions. He arrived in time to save a quarter 
part of the town. Thirty-two houses were, however, 
destroyed. A party, consisting of seven or eight hun- 
dred Indians, attacked the town of Hadley on the 19th 
of October ; but they were repulsed by the troops sta- 
tioned at that place. 

At a meeting of the commissioners of three United 
Colonies, held on the 9th of September, those of the 
Plymouth colony presented a narrative, relating to the 
war with the Indians of Mount Hope and Pocasset; 
and it was then concluded that the war was just, and 
that a force of one thousand men should be immediately 
raised ; and it was further considered, that as the Nar- 
ragansetts were accessary to most of the outrages 



130 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

committed, another party of one thousand men should 
be raised to proceed against them. The troops were 
accordingly raised, and Winslow, the governor of 
Plymouth, was appointed commander-in-chief. 

On the 18th of December the forces of the three 
colonies were united at Petaquamscot. and they march- 
ed through a deep snow toward the enemy, who was 
encamped, at about fifteen miles distance,' in a large 
swamp. The English arrived there at about one o'clock 
in the afternoon, and immediately marched forward in 
quest of the enemy's camp. The whole army entered 
the swamp, and followed the Indians, who had retreat- 
ed into their fortress. This they attacked, but were at 
first driven back. They, however, made a second at- 
tack, which was successful. The wigwams were set 
on fire, and a great many women and children perished 
in the conflagration. The Indians who escaped fled to 
a cedar swamp, at a small distance. The Indians are 
supposed to have lost one thousand men in this engage- 
ment, while the English lost, in killed and wounded, 
only two hundred and thirty. The great bodv of the 
Narragansett warriors soon after proceeded 'to the 
JNipmuck country. . 

On the 10th of* February, 1676, the town of Lancaster 
was plundered by a party of one thousand five hundred 
Indians, and about forty persons killed. Medfield and 
VV eymouth were also attacked in this month, by two par- 
ties of Indians. Although various companies of Indians 
were scattered over the country, yet the main bodv of 
them lurked in the woods between Brookfield. Marlbo- 
rough, and Connecticut river. On the 18th of April they 
attacked the town of Sudbury, and killed twelve persons. 
Captain Wadsworth, with a party of fiftv men, who 
was dispatched from Boston to relieve the town of 
Marlborough, fell into an ambuscade of Indians. They 
fought with desperate valour, but were finally overpow- 
ered ; and the few who were taken prisoners were des- 
tined to torments, in comparison to which death would 
have been far preferable. 
About this time a party of Indians attacked Scituate, 



DEFEAT OF THE NARRAGANSETTS. 



131 



but they were repulsed by the inhabitants ; and in the 
month of May various parties of them attacked the 
towns of Bridgewater, Plymouth, and Namasket, at 
each of which places they burned several houses, be- 
sides committing other ravages. 

On the 18th of May, a party of one hundred soldiers 
marched silently in the dead of night to Deerfield, to 
attack a party of Indians stationed there. They sur- 
prised them about break of day, and succeeded in kill- 
ing about three hundred men, women, and children. 
The Indians soon after rallied and attacked the party, 
killing Captain Turner, the commander of the expedi- 
tion, and thirty-eight of his men. 

A party of six or seven hundred Indians appeared 
before Hatfield on the 30th of May. After burning 
several houses and barns, they proceeded to attack 
the houses within the palisades ; but on the approach 
of a party of twenty-five young men, belonging to Had- 
ley, they instantly fled, with the loss of twenty-five men. 

In the month of March, Captain Denison of Stoning- 
ton, succeeded in capturing Nannuttenoo, the chief 
sachem of the Narragansetts. In the summer months, 
several volunteer companies made ten or twelve expe- 
ditions, and succeeded in killing and capturing two 
hundred and thirty of the enemy. They drove all the 
Narragansett Indians, except those of Ninigret, out 
of their country. This sachem had formerly been an 
enemy of the colonies, but in this war he refused to join 
the other sachems, and some of his men bore arms 
with the Connecticut volunteers. 

A standing army of three hundred and fifty men w 7 as 
ordered to be raised by the Assembly of Connecticut. 
Its commander was Major John Talcot. Early in 
June, Talcot with two hundred and fifty soldiers, and 
two hundred Moheagan and Pequod Indians, marched 
from Norwich into the Wabaquasset country ; but he 
found it to be entirely deserted, as well as the fort and 
wigwams at Wabaquasset. On the 12th of June, the 
town of Hadley was attacked by about seven hundred 
Indians, but Talcot and his soldiers soon appeared, and 



132 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

drove off the enemy. On the 3d of July, the same 
troops came up with the main body of the Indians, near 
a large cedar swamp, and attacked them so suddenlv 
tnat a great number were killed on the spot The 
others fled into the swamp, which was then surrounded 
by the Enghsh, who succeeded in killing and capturino- 
one hundred and seventy-one more. About the 5th of 
July, the army retired to Connecticut; and on their 
return took sixty more of the enemv prisoners 

The Indians, being thus hunted from one place to 
another, and disheartened by so many disastrous defeats 
began to come in by small parties, and surrender to the 
Enghsh. Philip, who had fled to the Mohawks, had so 
provoked them, that he was compelled to fly ; and he 
was now with a large party of Indians lurking near 
Mount Hope. On the 2d of August, Captain Church 
surprised him in his camp, killed one hundred and thirty 
of bis men, and took his wife and son prisoners. Philip 
himsell barely escaped with his life. F 
The personal adventures of Quanonchet and of 
Wuhp in the closing scenes of the war are thus given 
by a writer of our own times. Some events already 
noticed are mentioned in the extract. 

But the war began to draw to a close; Quanonchet, 
venturing out with a few followers near the enemy' 
was pursued and taken. His behaviour under his mis- 
fortunes was very noble and affecting; for when re- 
peated offers were made him of life, if he would deliver 
up r-hilip, and submit his own people to the Eoglish he 
proudly rejected them. They condemned him to die 
and, by a refinement of cruelty, by the hands of three 
young Indian chiefs. The heroic man said, « that he 
liked it well, for he should die before his heart was soft 
or he had spoken anything unworthy of himself." 
^nilip was deeply moved by the death of the chieftain 
for their friendship was like that of David and Jona- 
than strongest in misery and exile. He was not vet 
lef desolate: his beloved wife and only child were 
with him. They had shared all his sufferings: in his 
flights, his inroads, his dwellings in the swamps, they 



MISFORTUNES OF PHILIP. 



133 



seem never to have left his side. The unfortunate 
prince now returned to Mount Hope, the scene of his 
former power and happiness ; it was for no purpose of 
defence that he came, for it was too near the English 
settlements, but merely to visit it once more. "He 
finds it," says Mather, " to be Mount Misery, Mount 
Confusion !" No doubt it was so to his bleeding spirit ; 
for, with all his savage propensities, this prince was 
susceptible of some of the finest feelings of our nature. 
He sat down mournfully on the beautiful Mount, on 
which were now the ruins of his fortress and camp ; 
but he could not remain long here, for the feet of his 
pursuers were nigh, and he was compelled to seek his 
distant retreats again :— there was a greater agony in 
store for him than the sight of his ruined home. Early 
one morning, his quarters were surprised by the Eng- 
lish, most of his followers slain, and his wife and son 
made captive. The chief fled, broken-hearted, but un- 
subdued, leaving all he loved on earth in the hands of 
those who had no mercy. " This was no small torment 
to him," quaintly says the historian. "Woe to him that 
spoileth! His peag, or silver belt, the ensign of his 
princedom, also remained in our hands, so hardly 
did he escape." The measure of his woes was not 
yet full. The Indian princess of Pocasset was warmly 
attached to his cause, and had more than once aided 
him in his extremity; she had received him beneath her 
roof, soothed his sorrows, and, what was more, sum- 
moned her people to fight for him; and saved him and 
his people in her canoes the year before. Now, she 
followed him in his flight, and, as the more devout said, 
as if by a judgment, could not find a canoe to transport 
her, and, venturing over the river upon a raft, it broke 
under her, and she was drowned. Her body was soon 
after washed on shore, and the English, forgetful of all 
decency and delicacy to a woman of her rank, though 
a savage, cut off her head, and placed it on high, which, 
when the Indians who were her people saw r , they 
gathered round, and gave way to the most sad and 
touching lamentations. Philip now began, like Saul of 
12 



134 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

old, when earth was leaving him, to look to the powers 
beyond it, and to apply to his magicians and sorcerers, 
who on consulting their oracles, assured him that no 
Englishman should ever kill him. This was a vague 
consolation, yet it seems to have given him, foi a 
while, a confidence in his destiny, and he took his last 
stand in the middle of a distant and almost inaccessible 
swamp. It was a fit retreat for a despairing man, be- 
ing one of those waste and dismal places to which few 
ever wandered, covered with rank and dense vegeta- 
tion. The moist soil was almost hidden by the cypress 
and other trees, that spread their gloomy shades over 
the treacherous shallows and pools beneath. In the 
hL k r *f artS \ oaks L . a «d Pines grew, and, between 
them, brushwood so thick, that the savage could hardlv 
penetrate : on the long rich grass of these parts, wild 
cattle fed, unassailed by the hand of man, save when 
they ventured beyond the confines of the swamp 
There were wolves, deer, and other animals; and 
wilder men, it was said, were seen here ; it was sun- 
posed that the children of some of the Indians had 
either been lost or left here, and had thus grown up 
like denizens of this wild. Here the baffled chieftain 
gathered his little band around him, like a lion baited 
by the hunters sullenly seeking his gloomy thickets 
only to S p nng f orth fatalIy ° d ^ ^7 ^Kets 

nend; for what other was now left? his love was 
turned to -agony; his wife was in the hand of his ene- 
mies and would they spare her beauty? His only 
son, the heir of his long line, must bow his head to 
their yoke; his chief warriors had all fallen, and he 
could not trust the few who were still with him. Qua! 
nonchet, whose fidelity and attachment were stronger 
than death, was in the land of spirits, chasing the sha- 
dowy deer, and solaced with many wives; for Philip 
to the last, believed in the religion" of his country £ 
his extremity, an Indian proposed to seek peace with 
the English ;-the prince instantly laid him dead at his 
feet This man had a friend, who, disgusted with the 
deed, soon after fled from the place to Rhode Island 



(136) 



PHILIP'S DEATH. 



137 



where the English were recruiting their weary forces, 
and betrayed the place of his retreat. On this intelli- 
gence, a body of forces instantly set out. The night 
before his death, Philip, "like him in the army of 
Midian," says the historian, "had been dreaming that 
he was fallen into the hands of the English ; he awoke 
in great alarm, and told it to his friends, and advised 
them to fly for their lives, for that he believed it would 
come to pass." The place was well suited to awake 
all the terrors of the imagination; to any eye but that 
of the savage, it was like the " valley of the shadow of 
death ; the cvpress and oak trees hung heavy and still, 
over the accursed soil ; the faint gleam of the pools and 
sluo-n-ish lakes on every side, in the starlight, and the 
how! of the wolf, fitfully, as if it warned that the hour 
was nigh." "Now, just as he was telling his dream. 
Captain Church, with his company, fell in upon them." 
They had been guided by the deserter to the swamp, 
and, with great difficulty, across some felled trees, into 
its labyrinths. The battle was fierce and short ; Philip 
fought* till he saw almost every follower fall in his de- 
fence, then turned and fled ; he was pursued by an 
Englishman and an Indian ; and, as if the oracle was 
doomed to be fulfilled, the musket of the former would 
not go off; and the latter fired, and shot him through 
the heart. (See Engraving on the opposite page.) _ 

With his death all resistance ceased ; his dominions 
fell into the hands of the colonists, and peace was re- 
stored to the settlements. 

" The fall of Philip," says an historian * " was then 
considered as the extinction of a virulent and implacable 
enemy. It is now viewed as the fall of a great war- 
rior, a penetrating statesman, and a mighty prince. It 
then excited universal joy and congratulation as a pre- 
lude to the close of a merciless war. It now awakens 
sober reflections on the instability of empire, the pecu- 
liar destiny of the aboriginal race, and the inscrutable 
decrees of Heaven. The patriotism of the man was 



* Ramsay. 

12* 



138 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

then overlooked in the cruelty of the savage ; and little 
allowance was made for the natural jealousy of he 
sovereign on account of the barbarities of the warrior! 
1™ tL"w P f r0 .f e f ° f the En « lish sett lements, fore- 

tribe \„7 . hlS temt °Y and the ^inction of his 
tribe, and made one mighty effort to prevent these 
calamities. He fell ; and his Ml contributed to the ri e 
of the ^ United States. Joy for this event should be 
blended with regret for his misfortunes, and respect for 
his patriotism and talents." P 

In this war, which lasted only about fourteen months 
and had 1 "? ,° f N r EngIand ] ° St Sk h™dred, Ml d ,: 

buL t£ T t i* talIy ' and deven P artia % 

burnt. They also incurred a heavv debt for the ex. 

t P h e e n Hl 0 ? CaS10ned hy thG COntest ^ot the least among 
tZtion S 7" S p C ° nSeqUenCeS ° f this War ' was the inter? 
sTonarv hjrilffT . exeitl0ns . of tha < venerable mis- 
SS7' In ! rS'l m C0 f ertl "g the Mans to Chris- 

InSiJhJ ' the ?T bCT ° f towns and settlements 
inhabited by praying Indians, as they were then called 

who received his ministry,_towns in whichTndus trv 

fm 0 ounTed er f 'o and ^ Were establkSS 

amounted to more than twelve, when the war came on 

and threw a cloud over all their prospects. L vain 

Eliot endeavoured to avert hostilities by visiting and 

exhorting the chief. When he saw there was no Wer 

mTvetrthe 0 ^" 06 ,' ^ ^T^ his P e °P le "t "X 
moved by the example or seductions of either P art v . 

Ine contagion, however, was too strong; and tie it 

last saw many of them take up arms agafns their in 

fidel coun rymen. The order and harmony of hS 

dwelling-places were for a time utterly blasted - or The 

hi Is around Naticke and Pakeunit the watches were 

Mazing; the war-whoops were often heard in the nS 

at intervals, a solitary musket, and then a signal ! rv 

came from the neighbouring woods ; and yef neare? 

he poor Indians at last saw° their p Jti2ffi 

den attack on them, so that their taking up arms was 
partly in self-defence. This, however, dfd £0? prevent 



TERMINATION OF THE WAR. 



139 



their being suspected by the colonists; and a great 
number of them were confined on Long Island, cruelly 
treated, and threatened with death. Many of them fell 
in the contest ; their settlements were all desolated ; and 
when peace was restored, the indefatigable Eliot spent 
the small remnant of his days in gathering the scat- 
tered remains of his people together,"and restoring their 
former habits of industry and tranquillity .* 



* Although Philip's war is generally considered to have been 
virtually terminated by his death, the Indians of Maine, New 
Hampshire, and the British provinces east of these colonies, col- 
lectively called the " eastern Indians," remained hostile for some 
time longer. On the 6th of September, 400 Indians, who had 
already ente^d into a treaty, were treacherously seized at Co- 
checo (Dover, N. H.), where they had come to trade. Some of 
them were hanged at Boston, for having been concerned in Philip's 
war, and 200 were sold into slavery. For his participation in this 
transaction, Major Waldron paid the forfeit of his life, thirteen 
years after. 

Mogg, a famous eastern chief, signed a treaty with the English, 
November 6, 1676. An armament, under Major Waldron, met 
the Indians at Pemaquid, in February, 1677, for the purpose of 
treating with them ; but the negotiation terminated in a skirmish, 
in which ten of the Indians were killed and several captured. On 
the 19th of June of the same year, Captain Swett, with 60 Ens'- 
lish and 200 friendly Indians, fell into an ambush at Black Point, 
and was killed, with 60 of his party. In April, 1678, Governor 
Andros concluded a treaty with the eastern Indians, at Casco, 
which may be regarded as the termination of King- Philip's famous 

war a r 



CHAPTER VI. 



KING WILLIAM'S WAR. 



ROM the time of King 
Philip's war (1688 to 
1697), it is tofce observed 
that scarcely any of the 
numerous contests be- 
tween the English colo- 
nists and the natives were 
of purely Indian origin ; 
and it is highly probable 
that by far the greater 
portion of the bloodshed 
on our borders, from that period to the present moment, 
might have been spared, if the Indians had not been 
stimulated to aggression by our foreign enemies. 

It has already been remarked that Spain considered 
the boundaries of Florida to be extended indefinitely 
to the north of its present limits, while the French 
claimed the territory on the Atlantic border, as far 
south as the fortieth degree of north latitude, and 
the whole valley of the Mississippi, under the name of 
New France. As England claimed the Atlantic coast, 
from Florida (as it is) to Nova Scotia, and always 
granted patents for the belts of territory between these 
limits extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, 
she was engaged in perpetual disputes with these two 
nations, respecting the boundaries of her American 
colonies. The French and the Spaniards were both far 
more successful than the English, in engaging the sym- 
pathies and enlisting the services of the Indians, in the 




KING WILLIAM'S WAR. 



141 



border wars growing out of these disputes ; and hence 
it happened that the colonies, for a long period, were 
frequently assailed, on every side, by their combined 
savage and civilized enemies. All these wars were 
marked with the characteristic cruelties of Indian war- 
fare ; and the history of almost every attack might be 
summed up in the words surprise, massacre, conflagra- 
tion, and retreat. 

In the notices which we shall hereafter give of the 
wars of Carolina and Georgia, it will be perceived that 
the Spaniards were generally the instigators of the ag- 
gressions on that border ; on the northern and western 
frontiers, the colonists had generally to contend with 
the allied forces of the Indians and French ; and even 
when the French did not appear in arms with their re- 
spectable allies, they, and especially their Jesuit priests, 
were usually the instigators of the attack. This was 
particularly the case in the war which we are now to 
notice, commencing in 1688, and terminating with the 
treaty of Ryswick, in 1697, commonly called by the 
colonists, King William's War. In this contest, the 
French, who had the good fortune to be commanded 
by the able and indefatigable Count de Frontignac, the 
governor of Canada, aimed at nothing less than the 
expulsion of the English from the northern and middle 
provinces, if not from the continent ; and during its pro- 
gress, they fitted out powerful armaments more than 
once for this express purpose. The English, on the 
other hand, made repeated attempts to dislodge their 
enemy from Canada, which purpose they finally effected 
at a later period. As the French invariably availed 
themselves of the services of their Indian allies, they 
kept the frontiers in a state of continual alarm, and 
often penetrated into the heart of the colonies, spread- 
ing terror and desolation in every quarter. 

The first hostilities of this war occurred on the east- 
ern border of Maine, which was peculiarly exposed to 
the incursions of the Indians and French; and the 
cause of quarrel, as usual, was the vexed question of 
, boundaries. 



142 INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. 

That portion of Maine which lies between Penobscot 
and Nova Scotia had been given in exchange to the 
French for the island of St. Christopher. These lands 
were occupied by the baron de St. Castine, who carried 
on a considerable trade with the neighbouring Indians ; 
but they were also included in a grant of land made by 
the King of England to the Duke of York, who, there- 
upon, in order to strengthen his claim by actual posses- 
sion, ordered a fort to be built at Pemaquid, and a 
garrison to be stationed there. Some time after a ship 
landed some wines at Penobscot, supposing this place to 
be within the French territory. The duke's agents 
seized the wine, but it was soon after restored, through 
the influence of the French ambassador in England : 
but the boundary question was still undecided. 

In the beginning of the year 1688, Sir Edmund An- 
dros, at that time governor general of New England, 
by appointment of James II., sailed to the disputed ter- 
ritory, in the Rose frigate, and plundered Castine's 
house of every thing valuable that it contained, leaving 
only the ornaments of his chapel to console him for the 
loss of his arms and goods. This base action provoked 
Castine to excite the Indians to war, pretences for 
which were not wanting on their part. They com- 
plained of a variety of frauds and aggressions ; and 
forthwith commenced hostilities. They began to make 
reprisals at North Yarmouth, by killing cattle. Justice 
Blackman ordered sixteen of 'them to be seized, and 
confined at Falmouth ; but others continued to rob and 
capture the inhabitants. Andros, who pretended to 
treat the Indians with mildness, ordered those seized by 
Blackman to be liberated. But this mildness was disre- 
garded by the Indians, who kept their prisoners, and mur- 
dered some of them in their barbarous sports. Andros 
then changed his measures, and thought to frighten them 
with an army of seven hundred men, which he led into 
their country in the month of November. The rigour 
of the season proved fatal to some of his men ; but he 
never saw^ an Indian during his w T hole march. The 
enemy were quiet during the winter. 



SURPRISE OF DOVER, 



143 



(1689) After the revolution which deprived Andros 
of his office, the gentlemen who assumed the govern- 
ment of Massachusetts endeavoured to conciliate the 
Indians by embassies and presents ; but this policy was 
counteracted by a more successful system of diplomacy 
on the part of the French. 

Several tribes now entered into a league of mutual 
protection and defence ; these tribes, in revenge for 
Major Waldron's having seized four hundred Indians 
at Dover, thirteen years before, as already related, re- 
solved to attack that place, in which were five garrison- 
ed houses under his command. The inhabitants of this 
town had, for some time, neglected to keep a watch, 
imagining themselves to be in perfect security. The 
Indians, who often passed through the town, took notice 
of this, and determined to profit by it. The plan which 
they laid was as follows : two squaws were to go in the 
evening to each of the garrisoned houses, and demand 
a night's lodging there. As soon as the garrison should 
be asleep, they were to unbar the door, and by means 
of a whistle to apprise the Indians of this, who were 
then to rush in, and massacre the garrison. The 
squaws accordingly went to each of the above-mention- 
ed houses, and were received in them. When every 
thing appeared to be quiet, the squaws got up and silent- 
ly opened the door, and gave the appointed signal. On 
hearing this, the Indians rushed in, destroying all they 
met with, and committing the greatest cruelties. Twen- 
ty-three persons, among whom was Major Waldron, 
were killed in this affair, and twenty-nine taken prison- 
ers. These were, for the most part, taken into Canada, 
and sold to the French. Some of them were afterwards 
released, but the greater part remained in captivity till 
death. 

Among the persons taken prisoners were Mrs. Otis 
and her daughter, who was only about three months 
old. The French priests took this child under their 
care, and had her educated in a nunnerv. She, how- 
ever, declined taking the veil, and was married to a 
Frenchman, by whom she had two children. In 1714, 



144 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

being then a widow, she left her two children, and re- 
turned to New England, where she abjured the Catholic 
faith. Various methods were afterwards used in order 
to induce her to return to the Romish church ; but they 
were all without effect. She was afterwards married 
to Captain Thomas Baker. 

In 1690, Count de Frontignac, governor general of 
Canada, sent out three expeditions against the American 
colonies. The first of these proceeded against Sche- 
nectady, then a small village, situated on the Mohawk 
river. This party, after wandering for twenty-two days 
through deserts rendered trackless by snow, approached 
the village of Schenectady in so exhausted a condition, 
that they had determined to surrender themselves to the 
inhabitants as prisoners of war. But, arriving at a late 
hour on an inclement night, and hearing from the mes- 
sengers they had sent forward that the inhabitants were 
all in bed, without even the precaution of a public watch, 
they exchanged their intention of imploring mercy to 
themselves, for a plan of nocturnal attack and massacre 
of the defenceless people, to whose charity their own 
countrymen had once been so highly indebted* This 
detestable requital of good with evil was executed with 
a barbarity which, of itself, must be acknowledged to 
form one of the most revolting and terrific pictures that 
has ever been exhibited of human cruelty and ferocity. 
Dividing themselves into a number of parties, they set 
fire to the village in various places, and attacked the 
inhabitants with fatal advantage when, alarmed by the 
conflagration, they endeavoured to escape from their 
burning houses. The exhausted strength of the French- 
men appeared to revive with the work of destruction, 
and to gather energy from the animated horror of the 
scene. Not only were all the male inhabitants they 
could reach put to death, but women were murdered, 
and their infants dashed on the walls of the houses. 
But either the delay caused by this elaborate cruelty, 
or the more merciful haste of the flames to announce 



* For the account of Corlear's kindness to the French, see 
ter VIII. 



PROGRESS OF INDIAN HOSTILITIES. 147 



the calamity to those who might still fly from the assas- 
sins, enabled many of the inhabitants to escape. The 
efforts of the assailants were also somewhat impeded 
by a sagacious discrimination which they thought it ex- 
pedient to exercise. Though unmindful of benefits, 
they were not regardless of policy; and of a number 
of Mohawk Indians who were in the village, not one 
sustained an injury. Sixty persons perished in the 
massacre, and twenty-seven were taken prisoners. Of 
the fugitives who escaped half naked, and made their 
way through a storm of snow to Albany, twenty-five 
lost their limbs from the intensity" of the frost. The 
French, having totally destroyed Schenectady, retired 
loaded with plunder from a place where, we think, it 
must be acknowledged that even the accustomed atro- 
cities of Indian warfare had been outdone, (See En- 
graving on the opposite page.) 

Count Frontignac's second expedition marched against 
the settlement of Salmon Falls. This party, consisting of 
Indians and French to the number of fifty-two, fell on 
the village at day-break in three different places. The 
inhabitants made a bold resistance, but were finally 
overpowered. On the retreat of this party from the 
village, they were attacked by a force of about one 
hundred and fifty men; but escaped without much loss. 
The third of the three parties attacked and destroyed 
the settlement at Casco. 

In the month of May, an assault was made on Fox 
Point in Newington, in which several persons were 
killed, and a few taken prisoners. On the 6th of July, 
two companies under the command of Captains Floyd 
and Wiswal, came up with a party of Indians near 
Wheelright's Pond, and a bloody engagement took place, 
in which Wiswal and fourteen others were killed, and 
several wounded. The battle continued for several 
hours, and finally both parties retreated at the same 
time. The Indians proceeded westward and committed 
many and serious depredations. 

The inhabitants of New England having suffered so 
much from the French in Canada, resolved to form an 



148 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

expedition to reduce it to the crown of England 

Accordingly an armament was equipped and placed 
under the command of Sir William Phipps. This era 

UtT' T' h °T e / er ' retarded b - y so ™ ^foreseen 
events, so that it did not reach Quebec, the place of its 
destination, till the 5th of October, 1690, when it was 
time to return They accordingly abandoned the en- 
terprise and returned home. 

After the destruction of Casco, in 1690, all the 
eastern settlements were abandoned, and the peonle 
retired to the fort at Wells, in the 'southern pa'rt tf 
Maine. On the 25th of January, 1692, the town of 
York, adjoining Wells, was surprised by the French 
and Indians, who killed seventy-five of the inhabitants, 
captured as many more, and burnt the town. On the 
10th of June, an army of French and Indians made a 
furious attack on the garrison at Wells, commanded by 

enimy'offi * defenCe ' and drove th « 

Sir William Phipps having received instructions from 
the sovereigns, William and Mary, to build a fort at 
Pemaquid, was incited to the prompt execution of his 
order by the recent aggressions of the Indians in that 
part of the province. He embarked at Boston with 
four hundred and fifty men, in August, 1690, and on 
arriving at Pemaquid proceeded to the erection of a 
fortress of greater strength and dimensions than any 
hitherto erected in British America. It was built of stone 
and furnished with eighteen guns, six of which were 
eighteen pounders. It was garrisoned with sixty men, and 
served the purpose of keeping possession of Pemaquid, 
and was probably intended by the British to prevent 
the French from claiming Acadie as a derelict coun- 
try. As a means of annoyance to the Indians it was 
not worth the cost, which was very considerable. The 
characteristic remark of the famous Colonel Church 
who accompanied Phipps on his expedition, probably 
expresses the estimation in which it was held by most 
of the Massachusetts people. When the governor 
invited Church to go on shore and give his judgment 



ATTACK AT OYSTER RIVER, 



149 



about erecting a fort, he replied, " that his genius did 
not incline that way, for he never had any value for 
them, being only nests for destructions." 

In 1693, Major Convers, with five hundred men, 
marched into the' eastern part of Maine, without en- 
countering any Indians. On his return he built a fort 
on Saco river. The Indians soon after sued for peace, 
and a treaty was signed at Pemaquid, by which they 
renounced the French interest, promised to maintain 
perpetual peace, restore all captives, and allow a free 
trade. As a security for their fidelity they delivered 
hostages. 

This treaty was soon violated. The Indians would 
probably have observed its conditions, if they had not 
been influenced by the French, and particularly by the 
priests. The Sieur de Villiere, who had distinguished 
himself in the defence of Quebec, when Sir William 
Phipps was before it, and had contracted a strong an- 
tipathy to the New Englanders, being now in command 
at Penobscot, he, with M. Thury the missionary, di- 
verted Madokawando and the other sachems from 
complying with their engagements ; so that pretences 
were found for detaining the English captives who 
w r ere more in number, and of more consequence than 
the Indian hostages. Influenced by the same perni- 
cious counsels, they sought for a defenceless point of 
attack, and pitched upon the settlement of Oyster river, 
within the town of Dover, N. H. ; and the design of 
surprising this place was publicly talked of in Quebec, 
two months before it was attacked. There were 
twelve garrisoned houses in the place ; but the people 
were off their guard, and wholly unprepared for an 
assault, when M. de Villiere with a body of two hun- 
dred and fifty Indians, collected from the tribes of St. 
John, Penobscot and Norridgwog, attended by a 
French priest, marched upon the devoted town. The 
enemy approached undiscovered, and halted near the 
falls on the 17th of June, 1694. Here they formed 
two divisions, one of which was to go on each side of 
the river, and plant themselves in ambush in small par- 
13* 



150 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



ties near every house, so as to be ready for the attack 
at sunrise, the first gun to be the signal. John Dean, 
whose house stood by the saw-mill near the falls, leav- 
ing his house at daybreak, was shot as he came out of 
the door. This disconcerted their plan : several par- 
ties who had some distance to go, had not then arrived 
at their stations: the people were alarmed, some 
escaped, and others prepared for defence. The signal, 
however, being given, the attack instantly commenced 
in all parts where the enemy was ready. 

Of the twelve garrisoned houses, five were destroyed ; 
most of their inhabitants were murdered in cold blood 
without resistance ; others surrendered on promise of 
safety, and were then treacherously butchered: the 
rest escaped in boats on the river, or by secreting them- 
selves in the bushes. 

The other seven garrisons were bravely and success- 
fully defended. One of these near the river, surrounded 
by a palisade, was preserved in a singular manner. 
Th omas Bickford, the owner, being alarmed before the 
enemy reached his house, sent off his family in a boat, 
and then shutting his gate, betook himself alone to the 
defence of his fortress. Despising alike the threats and 
promises by which the Indians would have persuaded 
him to surrender, he kept up a constant fire at them, 
changing his dress as often as he could, showing him- 
self with a different hat, cap or coat, and sometimes 
without either, and giving directions aloud as if he had 
a number of men with him. Finding their attempt 
vain, the enemy withdrew, leaving him sole master of 
the house which he had defended'with such admirable 
address. 

When the enemy began to apprehend the approach 
of reinforcements from the surrounding settlement?, 
they hastily retreated through the woods after their 
usual manner, having killed and captured between 
ninety and a hundred persons, and burned twenty 
houses, five of which were garrisons. 

About forty of the enemy under Foxus, a Norridg- 
wog chief, resolving on farther mischief went west- 



INDIAN HOSTILITIES* 



151 



ward, and did execution as far as Groton. A smaller 
party crossed the Piscataqua and killed several persons 
on Mrs. Cutts's farm, herself among the number. The 
scalps taken in this expedition were carried to Canada 
by Madokawando, and presented to Count Frontignac, 
from whom he received the reward of his treacherous 
adventure. 

After this affair, no considerable attack was made 
on the north-western border, until June 26th, 1696, 
when a surprise took place on Portsmouth plain, about 
two miles from the town. Five houses were attacked 
at once; fourteen persons were killed and four cap- 
tured. The enemy was pursued, and the captives and 
plunder recovered ; but the Indians themselves escaped. 

On the 26th of July, the people of Dover were way- 
laid as they were returning from public worship : three 
were killed, three wounded, and three carried to Pe- 
nobscot prisoners. 

The plan of the French ministers for this year, 1696, 
had been to expel the English from their posts at Hud- 
son's Bay, Newfoundland, and Pemaquid. The expe- 
dition against Pemaquid was committed by the king to 
Iberville and Bona venture, who anchored on the 7th of 
August, at Pentagroet, where their force was aug- 
mented by the junction of the Baron de Castine, with 
two hundred Indians, who accompanied the French 
fleet in their canoes. On the 14th, the fort was in- 
vested. To the summons to surrender, Chubb, the 
commander of the fort, replied, "that if the sea were 
covered with French vessels, and the land with Indians, 
yet he would not give up the fort." After a few shots 
from the Indians, which were returned without effect 
from the fort, batteries were raised, and a bombard- 
ment commenced. Castine now found means to con- 
vey a letter into the fort, intimating that if the besieged 
waited till an assault took place, they would then 
be at the mercy of the Indians, and must expect no 
quarter. Upon this, the garrison, consisting of but 
eighty men, required their valorous commander to 
capitulate, which he did on highly honourable and 



152 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

advantageous terms. The famous fort of Pemaquid 
which had cost the Massachusetts colony an immense' 
sum of money, was now demolished by the captors 
The French then devastated a great part of Nova 
fecotia, but deferred their operations against the forts 
at Hudson's Bay and Newfoundland until the next 
year. 

In June, 1697, an ineffectual attempt was made bv 
the Indians to surprise Exeter, N. H., and on the 4th 
of July, Major Frost of Kittery, who had signalized 
himself on many occasions against the Indians, was 
waylaid and killed by them. 

Very extensive preparations were made by the 
French for the campaign of 1697; a large armament 
and fleet from France were to co-operate with the com- 
bined land forces of Indians and French from Canada 
and the whole country from Newfoundland to New 
York was to be conquered and devastated. But the 
fleet sailed too late in the season, and did not arrive at 
Placenta, the rendezvous, until the 24th of July, when 
a council of war, called to decide on the question 
unanimously decided not to make the proposed descent 
on Boston. 

The peace of Ryswick, which had been signed on 
the 20th of September, was proclaimed at Boston on 
the 10th of December, and the English colonies on^e 
more enjoyed repose, after a long and bloody war. Bv 
the seventh article of this treaty, it was agreed to make 
mutual restitution of all the countries, forts, and colo- 
nies, taken by each party during the war. 

After the treaty of Ryswick, Count Frontignac in- 
formed the Indians that he could no longer support 
them in their wars against the English, and advised 
them to_ make a treaty with their late opponents In 
conformity with this advice, they concluded a treaty 
on the 7th of January, 1699, in which they ratified 
their former engagements; acknowledged subjection to 
the crown of England ; and promised future peace and 
good behaviour. It was signed by Moxus, and many 
other sagamores, captains, and principal men of the 



WARS OF THE FIVE NATIONS, 



153 



Indians belonging to the rivers of the Kennebeck, Am- 
rceriscoggin, and Saco, and the parts adjacent. 

Our notices of this war, it will be observed, are con- 
fined chiefly to the operations in New England, which, 
from its contiguity to Canada and Nova Scotia, was 
necessarily its principal theatre. The contests between 
the French and the Five Nations who were justly con- 
sidered the barrier between New York and the French 
colony, will be noticed in another chapter. 



(TO THE CLOSE OF THE LAST FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.) 



the denomination of the Five Nations of Canada. 

This federal association is said to have derived its 
origin from the most remote antiquity; and, as the 
name imports, it comprehended five Indian nations, of 
which the Mohawks have obtained the most lasting 
name, and which were united, on terms of the strictest 
equality, in a perpetual alliance, for conquest and 
mutual defence. The members of this confederation 



CHAPTER VII. 



WARS OF THE FIVE NATIONS. 




'ONE among all the Indian 
nations has acquired so 
much celebrity as that 
confederacy which, from 
i its geographical position, 
j formed the barrier be- 
tween the middle colonies 
of Great Britain and the 
French possessions on 
: their north-western fron- 
tier, generally known by 



154 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

reckoned themselves superior to all the rest of mankind 
and the distinctive appellation which they adopted was 
expressive of this opinion. But the principles of their 
confederacy display far more policy and refinement 
than we might expect from the arrogance of their bar- 
barous name. They had embraced the Roman maxim, 
of increasing their strength by incorporating the people 
of other nations with themselves. After every conquest 
of an enemy, when they had indulged their revenge by 
some cruel executions, they exercised their usual policy 
in the adoption of the remaining captives ; and frequent- 
ly with so much advantage, that some of their most 
distinguished sachems and captains were derived from 
defeated and adopted foes. Each nation had its own 
separate republican constitution, in which rank and 
office were claimed only by age, procured only bv 
merit, and enjoyed by the tenure of public esteem and 
each was divided into three tribes, bearing respectively 
for their ensigns, and distinguished by the names of, the 
Tortoise, the Bear, and the Wolf. In no community 
was age graced with more respect, or youth endowed 
with greater beauty. Such was the efficacy of their 
mode of hie in developing the fine proportions of which 
the human frame is susceptible, that, when the statue 
of the Apollo Belvidere was beheld, for the first time 
by the American Apelles, Benjamin West, he started at 
the unexpected recognition, and exclaimed. « How like 
it is to a young Mohawk warrior !» The people of 'the 
severa nations, and especially the Mohawks, were dis- 
tinguished by the usual Indian qualities of attachment 
to liberty, fortitude in the endurance of pain : pre- 
ference of craft and stratagem to undisguised operation 
in war; and by a more than usual degree of perse- 
verance, resolution, and active intrepidity Almost all 
the tribes around this people, and even many at a great 
distance, who were not included in their confederacy" 
acknowledged a subjection to it, paid a tribute, which 
two aged sachems were annually deputed to collect- 
and were restrained from making war or neace with- 
out the consent of the Five Nations. It was the policy 



POLITY OF THE FIVE NATIONS. 



155 



of all the chiefs to affect superior poverty, and to dis- 
tribute among the people the whole of their own share 
of tribute and plunder. All matters of common con- 
cernment were transacted in general meetings of the 
sachems of each nation : and the influence of time, 
aided by a long course of judicious policy and victori- 
ous enterprise, had completely succeeded in causing 
the federal character and sentiments to prevail over 
the peculiarities of their subordinate national associa- 
tions. In the year 1677, the confederacy possessed 
two thousand one hundred and fifty fighting men. When 
the Tuscarora tribe was vanquished in Carolina, at a 
subsequent period, and expelled from its territory by the 
colonists of that province, the fugitives proposed, and 
were permitted, to revive their broken estate by engraft- 
ing it on this powerful confederacy ; and as, (in conse- 
quence of a supposition, derived from similarity of lan- 
guage, of their original derivation from the same stock 
to which they now returned,) they were associated as a 
new member of the general union, instead of being 
intermingled with any particular portion of it : the con- 
federacy soon after obtained the name of the Six Na- 
tions. Both the French and the English writers, who 
have treated of the character or affairs of this people, 
have concurred in describing them as at once the most 
judicious and politic of the native powers, and the most 
fierce and formidable of the native inhabitants of Amer- 
ica. There was only wanting to their fame, that lite- 
rary celebration which they obtained too soon from the 
neighbourhood of a race of civilized men, who were 
destined to eclipse, and finally extinguish, their great- 
ness : and particularly from the pen of a highly accom- 
plished writer, Cadwallader Golden, one of the governors 
of New York, they have received the same historic 
service which his own barbarian ancestors derived from 
the writings of Csesar and Tacitus. 

When the French settled in Canada, in the beginning 
of this century, they found the Five Nations engaged 
in a bloody war with the powerful tribe of Adirondack^ ; 
in which, after having been themselves so severely press- 



156 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ed, that they were driven from their possessions round 
Montreal, and forced to seek an asylum on the south- 
east coast of Lake Ontario, the Five Nations had lat- 
terly succeeded in gaining a decided advantage, and 
had in turn constrained their enemies to abandon their 
lands situated above the Three Rivers, and fly for safety 
behind the strait where Quebec was built. The tide of 
success, however, was suddenly turned by the arrival 
of Ghamplain, who conducted the French colony, and 
who naturally joined the Adirondacks, because he had 
settled on their lands. The conduct, the bravery, and 
especially the fire-arms, of these new allies of the ene- 
m /:u F ^ Ved ™ overmatch fo r the skill and intrepidity 
ot the live Nations, who were defeated in several bat- 
tles, and reduced to the greatest distress. It was at this 
critical juncture that the first Dutch ship arrived in Hud- 
son s river, with the colonists who established them- 
selves at Albany The Five Nations, easily procuring 
from these neighbours a supply of that species of arms 
to which alone their enemies had been indebted for their 
superiority, revived the war with such impetuosity and 
success, that the nation of the Adirondacks was com- 
pletely annihilated ; and the French too late discovered 
that they had espoused the fortunes of the weaker peo- 
ple. Hence originated the mutual dread and enmity 
that so long subsisted between the French and the con- 
federated Indians, and entailed so many calamities upon 
t>otn. 1 he h rench, less accustomed to the climate, and 
less acquainted with the country/than their savage ene- 
mies, attempted vainly to imitate their rapid and secret 
expeditions A party dispatched in the winter of 1665, 
by Courcelles, the governor of Canada, to attack the 
Jrive Rations, lost their way among wastes of snow, 
and alter enduring the greatest misery, arrived, without 
knowing where they were, at the village of Schenecta- 
dy, near Albany, which a Dutchman of consideration, 
named Corlear, had recently founded. The French 
exhausted and stupified with cold and hunger, resem- 
bled rather an army of beggars than of hostile invaders, 
and would have fallen an easy prey to a body of Indians 



POLICY OF THE DUTCH. 



157 



. who were in the village, if Corlear, touched with com- 
passion at their miserable appearance, had not employ- 
ed both influence and artifice with the Indians, to per- 
suade them to spare their unfortunate enemies, and de- 
part to defend their own people against a more formi- 
dable attack in a different quarter, which he led them 
to expect. When the Indians w T ere gone, Corlear and 
his townsmen brought refreshments to the famishing 
Frenchmen, and supplied them with provisions and other 
necessaries to carry them home : having taught them 
by a sensible lesson, that it is the mutual duty of men 
to mitigate by kindness and charity, instead of aggra- 
vating by ambition and ferocity, the ills that arise from 
the rigours of nature, and the frailty of humanity. The 
French governor expressed much gratitude for Corlear's 
kindness, and the Indians never resented his benevolent 
stratagem : but their mutual warfare continued unaba- 
ted. At length, after a long period of severe but inde- 
cisive hostilities, both parties, wearied of war, but not 
exhausted of animosity, agreed to a genera] peace, 
which was concluded in the year 1667, and had subsist- 
ed ever since without any considerable interruption, at 
the period when Colonel Dongan was made governor 
of New York. 

Of the relation that subsisted between the Dutch and 
the Five Nations, only confused and uncertain accounts 
have been preserved. The writers who have asserted 
that the Dutch w T ere continually in close alliance and 
friendship with the Indians, seem to have derived their 
statements entirely from their own ideas of what was 
probable, and to have mistaken for an expression of 
particular friendship, the indiscriminate readiness of the 
Dutch to traffic with friend or foe. It is certain that 
at any one time they were engaged in a bloody war 
with the Indians ; though with what particular tribes, 
there are no means of ascertaining; and that during 
Stuyvesant's administration they enjoyed a peace with 
them, of which the benefit was transmitted to the Eng- 
lish. When Colonel Nichols assumed the government 
of New York, he entered into a friendly treaty with 
14 



158 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the Five Nations ; which, however, till the arrival of 
Dongan, seems to have been productive of no farther 
connexion than an extensive commercial intercourse, 
in which the Indians supplied the English with peltry 
in return for arms and ammunition, of the use of which, 
as long as they were not employed against themselves, 
the venders were entirely, and, as it proved, unfor- 
tunately, regardless. The Indians adhered to the 
treaty with strict fidelity ; but always showed a scru- 
pulous niceness in exacting the demonstrations of re- 
spect due to an independent people; and in particular 
when any of their forces had occasion to pass near the 
English forts, they expected to be saluted with military 
honours. In the meantime the French Canadians were 
not remiss in availing themselves of their deliverance 
from the hostilities of these formidable Indians. They 
advanced their settlements along the river St. Law- 
rence, and in the year 1672 built Fort Frontignac on 
its north-west bank, where it rushes from the vast 
parent waters of Ontario. With a policy proportioned 
to the vigour of their advances, they filled the Indian 
settlements with their missionaries, who labouring with 
great activity and success, multiplied converts to their 
doctrines, and allies to their countrymen. The praying 
Indians, as the French termed their converts, were 
either neutral, or, more frequently, their auxiliaries in 
war. The Jesuits preached not to their Indian auditors 
the doctrines that most deeply wound the pride of hu- 
man nature, nor a lofty morality which the conduct of 
the bulk of its nominal professors practically denies and 
disgraces. They required of their converts but a su- 
perficial change ; an embracement of the external 
forms of Christianity ; and thev entertained their senses, 
and impressed their imaginations, by a ceremonial at 
once picturesque and mysterious. Yet as, from the 
weakness of man, an admixture of error is inseparable 
from the best system of doctrine, so, from the goodness 
of God, a ray of truth is found to pervade even the 
slightest. The instructions of the Jesuits, from which the 
lineaments of Christianity were not wholly obliterated, 



FRENCH POLICY TOWARDS THE INDIANS. 159 



may have contributed, in some instances, to form the 
divine image in the minds of the Indians ; and the good 
seed, unchoked by the tares, may, in some places, have 
sprung up to everlasting life. The moral and domestic 
precepts contained in the Scriptures were communi- 
cated, in some instances, with a happy effect: and 
various congregations of Indian converts were per- 
suaded by the Jesuits to build villages in Canada in 
the same style as the French colonists, to adopt Euro- 
pean husbandry, and to renounce spirituous liquors. 
The visible separation of the Catholic priests from 
the family of mankind, by a renunciation of conju- 
gal and parental ties, gave no small sacredness to 
their character, and a strong prevailing power to 
their addresses. In the discharge of w r hat they con- 
ceived their duty, their courage and perseverance were 
equalled only by their address and activity. They had 
already compassed sea and land to make proselytes, 
and the threats of death and torture could not deter 
them from executing their commission. Many of 
them, though commanded to depart, continued to 
remain among tribes that were at war with their coun- 
trymen ; and some of them, on the principle of becom- 
ing all things to all men, embraced Indian habits of 
living. One of these last, established himself so firmly 
in the affections of a certain tribe of the Five Na- 
tions, that although they continued faithful to the na- 
tional enmity against the French, they adopted him as 
a brother, and elected him a sachem. With such 
industry, resolution, and insinuation, did the French 
Jesuits exert themselves to recommend their faith and 
their country to the affections of the Indians. The 
French laity, too, and especially their civil and military 
officers and soldiery, succeeded better than the gene- 
rality of the English, ift recommending themselves to 
the good graces of the savages. French vanity was 
productive of more politeness and accommodation than 
English pride; and even the displeasure that the 
French sometimes excited by commission of injuries, 
was less intolerable than the provocation that the Eng- 



160 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



lish too frequently inspired by a display of insolence. 
The stubborn disposition of the English was best fitted 
to contend with the obstructions of nature; the pliancy 
and vivacity of the French, to prevail over the jealousy 
of the natives. There were as yet no Protestant mis- 
sions in this quarter of America, which, in the follow- 
ing century, some New England clergymen, aided by 
a religious society in Scotland, were destined to illus- 
trate by noble and successful exertions of missionary 
labour. 

Colonel Dongan, who was not, like his predecessors, 
encumbered with a monopoly of all the functions of 
government, nor absorbed in struggles with popular dis- 
content, had leisure for a wider survey of the state pf 
his countrymen's relations with the Indians, and very 
soon discovered that the peace which was so advantage- 
ous to the French Canadian colonists, by enabling them 
to extend their fortifications and their commerce over 
a vast extent of country, w T as productive of severe in- 
convenience to some of the colonies of Britain, and 
threated serious danger to them all. The Five Nations, 
inflamed by their passion for war, and finding a pretext 
for its gratification in the recollection of numerous in- 
sults that had been offered to them in the season of their 
adversity, had turned their arms southward, and con- 
quered the country from the Mississippi to the borders 
of Carolina ; exterminating numerous tribes and nations 
in their destructive progress. Many of the Indian al- 
lies of Virginia and Maryland sustained their attacks ; 
and these colonies themselves were frequently involved 1 
in hostilities, in defence both of their allies, and in pro- 
tecting themselves against allies incensed by discover- 
ing that their invaders derived their means of annoying 
them from the English at New York. But, in 1684, 
Colonel Dongan, in conjunction with Lord Effingham, 
the governor of Virginia, concluded with the Five Na- 
tions a definitive treaty of peace, embracing all the 
English settlements, and all tribes in alliance with them. 
Hatchets, proportioned to the numbers of the English 
colonies, were solemnly buried in the ground : and the 



THE ENGLISH L\ NORTH AMERICA. 



161 



arms of the Duke of York, as the acknowledged su- 
preme head of the English and Indian confederacy, 
were suspended along the frontiers of the territories of 
the Five Nations. This treaty was long inviolably ad- 
hered to ; and the fidelity of its observance was power- 
fully aided by a renewal of hostilities between the Five 
Nations and their ancient enemies, the French. It was 
at this time that the merchants of New York first ad- 
ventured on the great lakes to the westward, hoping to 
participate in the trade which the French were carry- 
ing on with much profit in that quarter, and which they 
endeavoured to guard from invasion by prejudicing the 
Indians against the English, and by every art that seem- 
ed likely to obstruct the advances of their rivals. Don- 
gan perceiving the disadvantages to which his country- 
men were exposed, solicited the English ministry to take 
measures for preventing the French from navigating 
the lakes which belonged to the Five Nations, and, con- 
sequently, as he apprehended, to England. But he was 
informed that it was preposterous to ask, or expect, that 
France would command her subjects to desist from an 
advantageous commerce for the benefit of their rivals: 
and he was directed, rather by acts of kindness and 
courtesy, to encourage the Indians to retain their ad- 
herence to England, and to make it the interest of all 
the tribes to trade with the English in preference to the 
French ; observing withal such prudence as might pre- 
vent offence to European neighbours. So far were these 
views from being realized, that from this time there com- 
menced a series of disputes between the two nations, 
which for the greater part of a century engaged them 
in continual wars and hostile intrigues that threatened 
the destruction of their colonial settlements, cost the lives 
of many of the European colonists, and wasted the 
blood, and prolonged the barbarism of those unfortu- 
nate Indians who were involved in the vortex of their 
hostility. 

On the death of Charles the Second, the Duke of 
York ascended his brother's throne, and the province 
of which he had been proprietary devolved, with all its 
14* 



162 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES, 



dependencies, on the crown. The people of New York 
received, with improvident exultation, the accounts of 
their proprietary's advancement to royalty, and pro- 
claimed him as their sovereign with the liveliest demon- 
strations of attachment and respect. They had been 
for some time past soliciting with much eagerness a for- 
mal grant of the constitution that was now established 
among them ; and the duke had not only promised to 
gratify them in this particular, but had actually proceed- 
ed so far as to sign a patent in conformity with their 
wishes, which, at his accession to the throne, required 
only some trivial solemnity to render it complete and 
irrevocable. But James, though he could not pretend 
to forget, was not ashamed to violate, as King of Eng- 
land, the promise which he had made when Duke of 
York ; and a calm and unblushing refusal was now re- 
turned to the renewed solicitations of all the incorpora- 
ted bodies, and the great bulk of the inhabitants of the 
province. Determined to establish the same arbitrary 
system in New York which he designed for New Eng- 
land, so far from conferring new immunities, he with- 
drew what had been formerly conceded. In the second 
year of his reign he invested Dongan with a new com- 
mission, empowering him, with consent of a council, to 
enact the laws, and impose the taxes ; and commanding 
him to suffer no printing-press to exist. Though he now 
sent Andros to New England, he paused a while before 
he ventured to restore the authority of that obnoxious 
governor in New York. But the people beheld in his 
appointment to govern the colonies in their neighbour- 
hood, an additional indication of their prince's charac- 
ter and their own danger, and with impatient discontent 
endured a yoke which they were unable to break, and 
which they were prevented from exhibiting to public 
odium, and English sympathy, through the medium of 
the press. 

Dongan, having been a soldier all his life, seems to 
have been fitted rather by habit to regard with indiffer- 
ence, than by disposition to enforce with rigour, a sys- 
tem of arbitrary power; and, accordingly, the remainder 



INDIANS AND FRENCH. 



163 



of his administration, though less favourable to his popu- 
larity, was not discreditable to his character, which 
continued to evince the same moderation, and the same 
regard to the public weal, as before. Though a Roman 
Catholic, he had beheld with alarm, and resisted w 7 ith 
energy, the intrusion of the French priests into the set- 
tlements of the Five Nations ; and even when his bigoted 
master was persuaded by the court of France to com- 
mand him to desist from thus obstructing the progress 
of popish conversion, he continued nevertheless to warn 
his Indian allies, that the admission of the Jesuits among 
them would prove fatal to their own interests, and to 
their friendship with the English. He still insisted that 
the French should not treat with the Indians in alliance 
with his colony, without his privity and intervention : 
but the French court again employed their interest with 
his master; and he accordingly received orders to de- 
part from this pretension. The Five Nations, however, 
seemed more likely to need the assistance of his forces 
than the suggestions of his policy. Their untutored 
sagacity had long perceived what the ministers of the 
court of England were not skilful enough to discern, 
that the extensive projects of France both threatened 
themselves with subjugation, and involved, to the mani- 
fest disadvantage of the English colonies, a diminution 
of their trade, and a removal of the powerful barrier 
that still separated them from the rival settlement of 
Canada. The treaty that excluded the Five Nations 
from hostile expeditions against the more distant tribes 
allied to the other English colonies, gave them leisure 
to attend with less distraction to their nearer interests: 
and finding themselves inconvenienced by the supplies 
which their numerous enemies derived from the French, 
they had of late chosen to consider this as a hostile act 
which they were entitled to resent and obstruct, and 
had constantly attacked the Canadian traders who car- 
ried military stores to any tribe with whom they were 
at war. The French, under the conduct of two suc- 
cessive governors, De la Barre and Nouville, had vainly 
endeavoured, partly by treaty, and partly by force, to 



164 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

repress proceedings so injurious to their commerce, their 
reputation, and their political views; when Dongan, 
perceiving that a war would probably ensue between 
the rivals and the allies of his countrymen, prevailed, 
by the most urgent entreaties, on the English court to 
invest him with authority to assist the Five Nations in 
the contest that menaced them. But the French minis- 
ters gaining information of these instructions, hastened 
to counteract them by a repetition of artifices which 
again proved successful. They had already more than 
once, by their hypocrisy and cunning, succeeded in out- 
witting the sincere bigotry of the English King ; and 
they had now the address to conclude with him a treaty 
of neutrality for America, by which it was stipulated 
that neither party should give assistance to Indian tribes 
in their wars with the other. Armed with so many ad- 
vantages, the French authorities in Canada resumed, 
with increased vigour, their endeavours to chastise by 
force, or debauch by intrigue, the Indian tribes who had 
preferred the English alliance to theirs ; while Dongan 
was compelled to sacrifice the honour of his country 
to the mistaken politics of his master, and to abandon 
her allies to the hostility, and her barrier to the violation, 
of an insidious and enterprising rival. He could not, 
however, divest himself of the interest he felt in the 
fortunes of the Five Nations, and seized every oppor- 
tunity of imparting to them advice no less prudent than 
humane, for the conduct of their enterprises, and the 
treatment of their prisoners. But his inability to fulfil 
former engagements, and afford them further aid, great] v 
weakened the efficacy of his councils. Though the 
remonstrances of Dongan enabled the ministers of 
James to discover, in the following year, that the treaty 
of neutrality for America was prejudicial to the in- 
terests of England, it was impossible to prevent the 
king from renewing, in the close of the same year, this 
impolitic arrangement with France. 

But the king had no intention of relinquishing his 
empire in America: and his mind, though strongly 
tinctured with bigotry, was not unsusceptible of politic 



NEW YORK ANNEXED TO NEW ENGLAND. 



165 



views; though he seems rarely to have mingled these 
considerations together. As his bigotry had prompted 
him to give up the Indians to the French, his policy 
now suggested the measure of uniting all his northern 
colonies in one government for their more effectual de- 
fence. It must be confessed, indeed, that he seems to 
have been at least as strongly prompted to this design 
by the desire of facilitating his own arbitrary govern- 
ment in the colonies, as by concern for their safety, or 
for the integrity of his dominions. As this scheme in- 
cluded New York, and as he thought the people of this 
province now sufficiently prepared to abide the extrem- 
ity of his will, he indulged the more readily the dis- 
pleasure that Dongan had given him by obstructing the 
French Jesuits, which had been a subject of continual 
complaint from the court of France. The commission 
of this meritorious officer was accordingly superseded 
by a royal command to deliver up his charge to Sir 
Edmund Andros : and New York not only reverted to 
the dominion of its ancient tyrant, but beheld its exist- 
ence as a separate province completely merged in its 
annexation to the government of New England. An- 
dros remained at Boston as the metropolis of his juris- 
diction; committing the administration of New York 
to Nicholson, his lieutenant-governor : and though by 
the vigour of his remonstrances, and his reputation for 
ability, he compelled the French to suspend some en- 
croachments which they were making or threatening to 
make on the English territories, he could lend no assist- 
ance to the Five Nations in the hostilities that were 
now carried on between them and the French with a 
mutual fury and ferocity that seemed to obliterate the 
distinction between civilized and savage men. The 
people of New York, deprived of their liberties, and 
mortified by their annexation to New England, felt 
themselves additionally ill used by the policy which 
compelled them to stand aloof and behold the fate of 
the allies to whom they had promised protection, to- 
gether with their own most important interests, suspend- 
ed on the issue of a contest in which they were not 



166 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

suffered to take a share ; while all the while their coun- 
trymen m the eastern part of New England were 
harassed by a dangerous Indian war which was be- 
lieved on strong reasons to have been excited by the 
intrigues of the French. But though deserted by the 
English, the Five Nations maintained the struggle with 
an energy that promised the preservation of their inde- 
pendence, and finally with a success that excited hopes 
even of the subjugation of their civilized adversaries. 
Undertaking an expedition with twelve hundred of 
their warriors against Montreal, they conducted their 
march with such rapidity and secresy as to surprise 
the French m almost unguarded security. The sud- 
denness and fury of their attack proved irresistible, 
lhey burned the town, sacked the plantations, put a 
thousand of the French to the sword, and carried away 
a number of prisoners whom they burned alive ; re- 
turning to their friends with the loss of only three of 
their own number. It was now that the "disadvantage 
arising from the neutrality of the English was mo°st 
sensibly felt, both in the cruelties with which the In- 
dians stained the triumphs they obtained, and which 
the influence of a humane ally might have contributed 
to moderate ; and also in the inability of the savages to 
improve their victories into lasting conquest. They 
strained every nerve indeed to follow up their advan- 
tage, and shortly after their attack on Montreal possess- 
ed themselves of the fort at Lake Ontario, which the 
garrison in a panic abandoned to them ; and beino- now 
reinforced by the desertion of numerous Indian" allies 
ot the French, they reduced every station that this 
people possessed in Canada to a state of the utmost 
terror and distress. Nothing could have saved the 
French from utter destruction but the ignorance which 
disabled the Indians from attacking fortified places: 
and it was evident to all that a single vigorous act of 
interposition by the English colonists would have suf- 
ficed to terminate for ever the rivalry of France and 
England in this quarter of the world. 

In the early part of the contest which we have 



INDIAX WARFARE AGAINST THE FRENCH. 



167 



already noticed under the name of King William's 
War, the Five Nations* somewhat offended by the re- 
cent impolitic neutrality of the English, took no part on 
either side. In 1691, however, when Colonel Slo Lighter 
was governor of New York, they were induced to a 
change of policy. 

, The most respectable act of Sloughters short ad- 
ministration was a conference which he held with the 
chiefs of the Five Nations, who admitted that they had 
so far relaxed their hostile purposes against the French, 
as to entertain propositions for a lasting peace with 
them: but now willingly consented to brighten, as they 
termed it, their ancient belt of friendship, and to renew 
a league, offensive and defensive, with the English. 
" We remember,*' they declared, " the deceit and trea- 
chery of the French : the belt they have sent us is poi- 
son ; we spew it out of our mouths ; and are resolved 
to make war with them as long as we live." On his 
return from this conference, a sudden death put a pe- 
riod to Sloughter's administration. 

To animate the Indians in the purposes they had now 
professed, and to sharpen, by exercise, their hostility 
against the French. Major Schuyler, who had acquired 
extraordinary influence with the Five Nations by his 
courage, good sense, and friendly attention to their in- 
terests, undertook, in the close of this year, an expedi- 
tion against Montreal, at the head of a considerable 
body of colonial and Indian forces. Though the in- 
vaders were finally compelled to retreat, the French 
sustained great loss in several encounters, and the spirit 
and animosity of the Five Nations were whetted to 
such a pitch, that even when their allies retired, they 
continued during the winter to wage incessant and 
harassing hostilities with the French. Count Fron- 
tignac, whose sprightly manners and energetic char- 
acter supported the spirits of his countrymen amidst 
every reverse, was at length so provoked with what he 
deemed the ingratitude of the Five Nations for his 
kindness to them at Schenectady, that, besides encou- 
raging his own Indian allies to burn their prisoners 



168 



INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. 



alive, he at length condemned to a death still more 
dreadful, two Mohawk warriors who had fallen into his 
hands. In vain the French priests remonstrated against 
this sentence, and urged him not to bring so foul abstain 
on the Christian name : the count declared that everv 
consideration must yield to the safety and defence of 
his people, and that the Indians must not be encouraged 
to believe that they might practise the extreme °of 
cruelty on the French without the hazard of having it 
retorted on themselves. If he had been merely actu- 
ated by politic considerations, without being stimulated 
by revenge, he might have plainly perceived, from the 
conduct of all the Indian tribes in their wars with each 
other, that the fear of retort had no efficacy whatever 
to restrain them from their barbarous practices, which 
he now undertook to sanction as far as his example 
was capable of doing. The priests, finding that their 
humane intercession was ineffectual, repaired to the 
prisoners, and laboured to persuade them to embrace 
the Christian name, as a preparation for the dreadful 
fate which they were about to receive from Christian 
hands ; but their instructions were rejected with scorn 
and derision, and they found the prisoners determined 
to dignify, by Indian sentiments and demeanour, the 
Indian death which they had been condemned to un- 
dergo. Shortly before the execution, some Frenchman, 
less inhuman than his governor, threw a knife into the - 
prison, and one of the Mohawks immediately dispatched 
himself with it : the other, expressing contempt at his ! 
companion's mean evasion from glory, walked to the 
stake, singing in his death-chant, that' he was a Mo- ! 
hawk warrior, that all the power of man could not ex- 
tort the least expression of suffering from his lips, 
and that it was ample consolation to him to reflect that 
he had made many Frenchmen suffer the same panes 
that he must now himself undergo. When attached to 
the stake, he looked round on his executioners, their in- 
struments of torture, and the assembled multitude of 
spectators, with all the complacency of heroic fortitude ; 
and, after enduring for some hours, with composed mien 



THE FIVE NATIONS AIDED BY THE ENGLISH. 169 



and triumphant language, a series of barbarities too 
atrocious and disgusting to be recited, his sufferings 
were terminated by the interposition of a French lady, 
who prevailed with the governor to order that mortal 
blow, to which human cruelty has given the name of 
coup de grace, or stroke of favour. 

During Colonel Fletcher's administration (1693), he 
paid but little personal attention to Indian affairs. 

It was fortunate for New York that the incapacity 
of her governor was prevented from being so detri- 
mental as it might otherwise have proved to her Indian 
interests, by the confidence he reposed in Major Schuy- 
ler, whose weighty influence was employed to preserve 
the affections and sustain the spirit of the Five Nations. 
Yet so imperfectly were they assisted by the colony, 
that Frontignac, even while occupied with other hos- 
tilities in New England, w T as able by his vigour and 
activity to give them a severe defeat. Roused by this 
intelligence, Fletcher assembled the militia of New 
York, and abruptly demanding who was walling to 
march to the aid of their allies against the French, the 
men threw up their hats in the air and answered unani- 
mously, " One and all." The march was effected with 
a rapidity that highly gratified the Indians ; and though 
it produced no substantial advantage to them, it was so 
favourably regarded as a demonstration of promptitude 
to aid them, that they were prevented from embracing 
Frontignac's offers of peace. They could not help ob- 
serving, however, that it was too frequent with the 
English to defer their succours till they had become 
unavailing ; and that while the whole power of 
France in America was concentrated in simultaneous 
efforts to maintain the French dominion, the English 
colonies acted with partial and divided operation, and 
Maryland and Delaware in particular (though the quar- 
rel was said to be a national one) took no share in the 
hostilities at all. 

The remainder of Fletcher's administration was not 
distinguished by any occurrence that deserves to be 
particularly commemorated. (1695.) The war between 
15 



170 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



the French and the Five Nations sometimes languished 
by the addr ess of Frontignac ? s negotiations, and was 
oftener kindled into additional rage "and destruction by 
his enterprise and activity. Neither age nor decrepi- 
tude could chill the ardour of this man's spirit, or im- 
pair the resources of his capacity. On the threshold 
of his own fate, and supported in a litter, he flew to 
every point of attack or defence, to animate the havoc 
of war. and contemplate the execution of his plans. 
His own bodily situation had as little effect in mitigating 
his rigour, as in diminishing his activity : and as their 
hostilities were prolonged, the French and the Indians 
seemed to be inspired with a mutual emulation of cru- 
elty in victory, no less than of prowess in battle. The 
prisoners on both sides were made to expire in tor- 
tures ; and the French, less prepared by education and 
physical habits for such extremities of suffering, en- 
dured a great deal more evil than they were a^ble to 
inflict. (1696.) On one occasion, when Frontignac 
succeeded in capturing a Mohawk fort, it was found 
deserted of all its inhabitants except a sachem in ex- 
treme old age, who sat with the composure of an 
ancient Roman in his capitol, and saluted his civilized 
compeer in age and infirmity, with dignified courtesy 
and venerable address. Every hand was instantly raised 
to wound and deface his time-stricken frame; and 
while French and Indian knives were plunged into his 
body, he recommended to his Indian enemies rather to 
burn him with fire, that he might teach their French 
allies how to suffer like men. "Never, perhaps" says 
Charlevoix, " was a man treated with more cruelty; 
nor ever did any endure it with superior magnanimity 
and resolution." The governor of Xew York, mean- 
while, encouraged the Five Nations, from time to time, 
to persevere in the contest, by endeavouring to nego- 
tiate alliances between them and other tribes, and by 
sending them valuable presents of ammunition and of 
the European commodities which they principally es- 
teemed : and their intercourse with him fluctuated be- 
tween grateful acknowledgments of these occasional 



PEACE OF RYSWICK. 



171 



supplies, and angry complaints that he fought all his 
battles by the instrumentality of the Indians. Indeed, 
except repelling some insignificant attacks of the French 
on the frontiers of the province, the English governor 
took no actual share in the war, and left the most im- 
portant interests of his countrymen to be upheld against 
the efforts of a skilful and inveterate foe, by the un- 
aided valour of their Indian allies. 

(September, 1697.) The peace of Ryswiek, which 
interrupted the hostilities of the French and English, 
threatened at first to be attended with fatal conse- 
quences to the allies, to whose exertions the English 
had been so highly indebted .; and if Fletcher had been 
permitted to continue longer in the government of Xew 
York, this result, no less dangerous than dishonourable 
to his countrymen, would most probably have ensued. 
A considerable part of the forces of Count Frontignac 
had been employed hitherto in warlike operations 
against Massachusetts and Xew Hampshire, in conjunc- 
tion with the numerous Indian allies whom he possessed 
in that quarter. (1698. Peace of Ryswiek.) But the 
peace of Ryswiek, of which he now received intelli- 
gence, enabled him to concentrate his whole disposable 
force against the only foe that remained to him : and 
refusing to consider the Five Nations as identified with 
the English, he prepared to invade them with such an 
army as they never before had to cope with, and over- 
whelm them with a vengeance which they seemed in- 
capable of resisting. (April.) But Fletcher had now 
been very seasonably succeeded by the Earl of Bella- 
mont, who was appointed governor both of Xew York 
and Massachusetts ; and this nobleman being endowed 
with a considerable share both of resolution and capa- 
city, clearly perceived the danger and injustice of suf- 
fering the French project to be carried into effect, and 
promptly interposed to counteract it. He not only 
furnished the Five Nations with an ample supply of 
ammunition and military stores, but notified to Count 
Frontignac, that if the French should presume to attack 
them, he would march with the whole forces of his 



172 



IXDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES, 



province to their aid. The count thereupon abandoned 
his enterprise, and complained to his sovereign (Louis 
the Fourteenth) of the interruption it had received ; 
while Lord Bellamont, in like manner, apprised Kino- 
William of the step he had taken. The two kingl 
commanded their respective governors to lend assist- 
ance to each other and evince a spirit of accommoda- 
tion in making the peace effectual to both nations, and 
to leave all disputes concerning the dependency of the 
Indian tribes to the determination of the commissioners 
who were to be named in pursuance of the treaty of 
Ryswick. Shortly after the reception of these man- 
dates, a peace was concluded between the French and 
the Five Nations: but not till English insolence and 
F rench cunning had nearly detached these tribes en- 
tirely from the alliance they had so steadily maintained, 
by leading them to believe that the English interposed 
m their concerns for no other reason than that they ac- 
counted them their slaves. The French endeavoured 
to take advantage of their ill humour by prevailing 
with them to receive an establishment of Jesuits into 
their settlements. But although the Indians at first en- 
tertained the offer, and listened with their usual gra- 
vity and politeness to the speech of a Jesuit who 
had been sent to enforce it, their habitual sentiments 
soon prevailed over a transient discontent, and they 
declared their determination to adhere to the English, 
and to receive, instead of the French priests, a ministry 
of Protestant pastors which Lord Bellamont had pro- 
posed to establish among them. 

The war waged by the Corees and Tuscaroras 
against the Carolinians, noticed in another chapter of 
this history, was the occasion of adding another tribe 
to the confederacy of the Five Nations. - After the ter- 
rible defeat suffered by the Indians on that occasion, 
the Tuscaroras abandoned their ancient residence in 
Carolina, and, travelling to the north, united themselves 
to the Five Nations, whose allies they had been in some 
of the southern expeditions of the confederated tribes. 
From a similarity in their language, they were believed 



THE TUSCARORAS. 



173 



to have had a common origin, and perhaps for this rea- 
son they were the more readily received by the haughty 
magnates of the confederacy, They were readily ac- 
commodated with a section of territory to dwell in ; 
and after this, the allied powers were styled the Six 
Nations. The Tuscaroras, however, were not Mo- 
hawks ; they were less remarkable for strength and 
courage than the northern tribes, and consequently 
were alwavs regarded as inferiors. 

From the commencement of the eighteenth century 
to 1750, the Jesuit missionaries and trading agents of 
the French succeeded in exerting considerable influ- 
ence over the Six Nations. By accommodating them- 
selves to the martial tastes of the savages, and dazzling 
them with the splendid and imposing ceremonies of the 
Catholic church, they so far ingratiated themselves 
with the Indians as to obtain their permission to build 
forts in their territory ; and when the last French and 
Indian war broke out (1754), they even induced four 
of the tribes to go over to the French and take an 
active part against the British colonists. Before, how- 
ever, this war had terminated in the total defeat of the 
French, the Indians had returned and renewed their 
alliance with the English. 




15* 



CHAPTER VIII. 



QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. 




™ljpECURITY seemed at the 
" JIBS close of Kin S William's 



||EjgS|p War to be assured to the 
'ggjj||jL people long unaccustomed 



to it. But peace, now ap- 



m parently restored to the 
|l colonies by the treaty of 
^ Ryswick, conferred her 
* blessings but for a short 
\ season. The recognition 
^ of the Pretender's claims 



to the British crown by the French court, forthwith 
led to a declaration of war by Queen Anne, in May, 
1702. Villebon, the governor of Canada, began to 
make encroachments on the English territory; their 
fishery was interrupted by French ships of war ; and 
a French mission was established at Norridgwog, on 
the upper part of the Kennebeck. The influence of 
the French was by this means extended over the In- 
dians ; and the governor of Canada instigated them to 
prevent the English from settling east of the Kennebeck. 

Dudley, who was now governor of Massachusetts, 
had received orders to rebuild the fort at Pemaquid; but 
could not prevail on the assembly to bear the expense 
of it. He, however, determined to visit Maine ; and 
taking several gentlemen with him, held a conference 
at Casco, with delegates from nearly all the surround- 
ing tribes, June 20th, 1703. They there concluded a 
treaty of peace with the customary formalities ; and 
the Indians assured them that their union should be as 



(174) 



BORDER WAR IN MAINE. 



firm as a mountain, and should continue as long as the 
sun and moon. Notwithstanding these protestations, 
they made an attack a few weeks after upon all the 
settlements from Casco to Wells, and killed and took 
one hundred and thirty persons, burning and destroy- 
ing all before them. 

A week after, August 17th, 1703, a party of Indians 
killed five people at Hampton village ; they also plun- 
dered two houses ; but the country being now alarmed, 
they fled without doing any further injury. In the fall 
of the same year, Colonel March, of Casco, killed six 
of the enemy, and took six more prisoners ; this en- 
couraged the government to offer a bounty of forty 
pounds for scalps. 

During winter, hostilities were suspended, but they 
commenced with the return of spring. In May, Colo- 
nel Church, having planned an expedition to the eastern 
shore, sailed from Boston with several small boats, for 
the purpose of ascending rivers. In this expedition he 
destroyed the towns of Minas and Chignecto ; and did 
considerable damage to the French and Indians at Pen- 
obscot and Passamaquoddy. 

In the winter, Colonel Hilton, with two hundred and 
seventy men, proceeded to Norridgwog; but, on ar- 
riving there, they found no enemy to contend with; 
and "therefore burnt the deserted wigwams and the 
chapel. 

The governor of Canada encouraged the Indians 
who inhabited the borders of New England to remove 
to Canada, which they did, and have ever since re- 
mained there. By this policy they became more firmly 
attached to the French interests. Dudley, who kept a 
vigilant eye upon them, apprehended a rupture in the 
winter, and, therefore, made preparations to receive 
them. But they did not appear till April, 1706 ; when 
a small party attacked a house on Oyster river, where 
they killed eight and wounded two. 

In July, Colonel Schuyler, from Albany, informed 
Dudley that two hundred and seventy of the enemy 
were on their march toward Piscataqua. He imme- 



176 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES, 
diately informed the people of it, ordered thpm t« i 
garrison, and one half of the milhia fo £ !? ° l0Se 

h«d detained ,„ L,r„ y g H L„ C™, 'SW 
one men, and took two prisoners Thi« Jot ™' ent y; 

JkeiraS £z™ h ?^y » 

applied to the colonies of Rhode Island Z r ^ he 
for one thousand men for W exSk, ^g™^* 
was soon raised, and divided TXo Zc ^enTo^ 

was Colonel MarcL ^e&^tdT?^ 
days arrived before Port Roval Sk j fe ^ 



ATTACK ON HAVERHILL. 



177 



permitted to land under pain of death. In a short time 
he ordered Chesley's company to be re-embarked, offer- 
ing a pardon to those who returned, and threatening 
those who would not return with a severe punishment. 
By the latter end of July they got on board, and with 
the rest of the army proceeded to the place of action. 
On landing, they were greatly annoyed by an ambus- 
cade of Indians. Major Walton, with the New Hamp- 
shire companies, attacked and soon put them to flight. 
The command of the army was now given to Wain- 
wright. By the last of August the whole affair was 
terminated ; and the army returned sickly, disheartened, 
afnd ashamed, having lost sixteen killed and as many 
wounded. 

In September, a party of French Mohawks, painted 
red, attacked a company of English who were in the 
woods hewing timber, near Oyster river. At the first 
fire they killed seven and mortally wounded another. 
Chesley, the commander of the English, with a few 
others, kept the enemy in check for some time ; but 
being overpowered by numbers, he at length fell. He 
w r as much lamented by his companions, being at that 
time one of their bravest officers. 

In 1708 a large army was prepared in Canada to 
make an attack on the frontiers of New England. 
Dudley, receiving information of this, immediately 
made great preparations for defence. Spy boats were 
kept out at sea between Piscataqua and Winter har- 
bours. Four hundred Massachusetts soldiers were also 
posted in this province. At length the storm fell on 
Haverhill ; but the enemy's force being diminished by 
various accidents, they proceeded no further; and every 
part of New Hampshire was in a short time again 
quiet. 

The principal object of the colonies was now to 
wipe away the disgrace they had brought on themselves 
the last year by their fruitless attempt on Port Royal, 
by an attempt to conquer Canada itself. For this pur- 
pose solicitations had been made in England. These 
were successful ; an expedition was determined on, and 



178 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

orders were sent to the governors of the several pro- 
vinces to raise men for the service. After much trouble 
the troops were raised and all ready to proceed, when 
news arrived that the fleet promised by the queen was 
destined to another quarter. But in July, 1710. the 
British ministry sent out five frigates for the purpose of 
reducing Port Royal. Troops were raised in the colo- 
nies to assist in the expedition, and the whole arma- 
ment sallied from Boston on the 18th of September, 
1710. On the 24th they arrived before the placed and 
after a few shots were fired it was surrendered. Its 
name was changed, in honour of the queen, from Port 
Royal to Annapolis. 

After the reduction of Port Royal, Nicholson, the 
commander of the expedition, went to England to so- 
licit an expedition against Canada. He was successful ; 
and on the 8th of June, 1711, Nicholson came to Bos- 
ton with orders for the northern colonies to get ready 
their quotas of men and provisions by the arrival of the 
fleet and army from Europe, which happened within 
sixteen days. This army consisted of seven veteran 
regiments of the Duke of Marlborough's army, and a 
battalion of marines under the command of Brigadier 
General Hill, which, joined with the New England 
troops, made a body of about six thousand five hundred 
men, provided with a fine train of artillery. The fleet 
consisted of fifteen ships of war, of from eighty to thirty- 
six guns, with forty transports, and six store-ships, under 
the command of Admiral Walker. 
^ The fleet sailed from Boston on the 30th of July; 
out the sanguine hopes of success entertained by the 
colonies were blasted in one night ; for the fleet having 
arrived near the river St. Lawrence in the night of the 
23d of August, eight of the vessels were wrecked on 
£igg Island, and one thousand men perished. ifter 
holding a consultation, the expedition was broken up 
the fleet returned to England, and the New England 
troops to their homes. 

1712. The Indians now began to commit more ra- 
vages than ever ; but happily news of the treaty of 



LOSSES BY THE WAR. 



179 



Utrecht arrived at this time, and the Indians, restrained 
by the French, committed no further ravages. They 
shortly after made a treaty of peace with governor 
Dudley, at Portsmouth, N. H. 

This war had burdened New England and New York 
with debt. None of the provinces, however, suffered 
from it so severely as Massachusetts and New Hamp- 
shire. Twenty-five years was the term usually required 
for doubling the population of the North American colo- 
nies by the mere progress of native increase. But 
during the latter part of the seventeenth and the earlier 
part of the eighteenth century, the principle of increase 
was less efficient in Massachusetts and New Hampshire 
than in any of the other colonies ; and in the year 1713, 
Massachusetts did not contain double the number of 
inhabitants that it contained fifty years before. The 
heavy taxes that prevailed during that period, doubtless 
induced some of the inhabitants to emigrate to other 
provinces ; but the actual carnage of the war appears 
chiefly to have contributed to repress the increase of 
population. From the year 1675, when Philip's war 
began, till the close of Queen Anne's war in 1713, 
about six thousand of the youth of the country had 
perished by the stroke of the enemy or by diseases 
contracted in military service. From the frequency 
and fertility of marriage in New England, nine tenths 
of these men, if they had been spared to their country, 
would have become fathers of families, and in the 
course of forty years have multiplied to an hundred 
thousand souls. 



CHAPTER IX. 



LOVEWELL'S WAR. 




NDURING causes of hos- 
tility between the -New 
England colonies and 
their savage enemies still 
remained. The situation 
of the eastern Indians 
prevented them from re- 
maining quiet any length 
of time. The French on 
^ the one side treated them 
-~^^=^==^ as an independent nation ; 
the English on the other called them subjects of their 
king, on account of the patents giving the lands to his 
people. The English had purchased the land of the 
Indians, sometimes giving not one-fourth of their worth ; 
at others, paying amply for them. But notwithstanding 
their just claims to them, the Indians, instigated by the 
French, found various pretences for evading them. The 
New England colonies being desirous to avoid a war, 
held several conferences with them in 1717, but with 
no satisfactory result. Governor Shute met a large 
number of chiefs at Orrorosic, and offered them an 
Indian bible and a missionary. This was rejected; 
nothing would satisfy them but a settlement of the 
boundaries, which the governor refused ; and this re- 
fusal may be considered as the principal cause of the 
war m which the two parties were shortly after in- 
volved. At the head of the Jesuits who were among 
these tribes, was one Sebastian Ralle, a Frenchman. 
He made use of every opportunity to excite the sa- 

(180) 



RENEWAL OF THE WAR. 



181 



chems against the English, and at length succeeded, as 
we shall see. The government of Massachusetts saw 
his influence, and dispatched Colonel Westbrooke to 
Norridgwog to tale him ; but he escaped, leaving his 
papers, which were taken to the governor. 

(1722.) The Indians, upon this new aggression, com- 
menced hostilities. They first made an attack upon 
Fort George, but were foiled by the spirited defence. 
Furious at this disappointment, they attacked and took 
the town of Brunswick, which was soon after de- 
stroyed. 

Massachusetts now found it necessary to make a de- 
claration of war. This was published simultaneously 
at Boston and Portsmouth. The vigilance of the border 
garrisons was only exceeded by "that of Lieutenant- 
governor Wentworth, who spent 'the most of his time 
in visiting the garrisons and cheering the soldiers. The 
assembly offered a reward of £100 for every Indian 
scalp which should be presented to any magistrate. 
The first place that was visited by the savages In New 
Hampshire was Dover, where they killed one Joseph 
Ham, with three of his children;' the remainder es- 
caping to the fort. 

In the spring of 1724. Kingston was surprised by 
the Indians. They took four persons, one of whom, a 
Peter Colcord, escaped and returned to Kingston, where 
he was rewarded by the assembly, for his ingenuity and 
the information which he communicated to them con- 
cerning the Indians. 

At Oyster Bay, Moses Davis, with his son, going to 
their work in the fields not far distant from the village, 
discovered several bundles belonging to the Indians, 
lying on the banks of a brook. Supposing that the 
owners must be near, they started for the village, where 
Abraham Renwick, with a company of volunteers, was 
stationed. Davis reported to him what he had seen, 
and offered to guide him to the spot. They accordingly 
started, with Davis and his son in the advance. When 
within a short distance of the place, a fire from the 
Indians, who lav in ambush, killed Davis and his son. 
16 



182 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



The English returned the fire, killing one and wound- 
ing two ; the remainder of the party fled. The one 
slain was apparently a chief, for he was dressed in the 
richest manner, wearing a coronet of fur, to which 
was attached some small bells to show his followers 
his path when leading them through a thicket. The 
scalp was presented to government, who gave the re- 
ward to Captain Matthews, for the company. 

Among the Quakers who dwelt at Dover, was John 
Hanson, who, like his brethren, refused to make any 
efforts for the defence of his family in case of an attack. 
A party of Mohawks seeing this negligence, concealed 
themselves in the woods about his house waiting for a 
good opportunity to assault it. One soon offered itself; 
Hanson, having gone to meeting with his oldest daugh- 
ter, left two sons at work at a good distance from his 
house. The Indians immediately entered the house, 
killed two small babes, and took his wife, and a child 
fourteen days old, the nurse, and a son and two daugh- 
ters. These were carried to Canada and sold, but 
were all redeemed by their father, except one daughter, 
who married a Frenchman. 

During these incursions, the colonists were not idle. 
Two officers, Captains Harman and Moulton, were ap- 
pointed by the governments of Massachusetts and New 
Hampshire to conduct an expedition against Norrido-. 
wog. This was executed with so much secresy and 
success, that Ralle, the Jesuit, with eighty Indians were 
slain ; and the plate and furniture of the ehapel, together 
with the sacred banner, on which was painted a cross 
surrounded with bows and arrows, were all carried 
home as trophies. The effect of this expedition on the 
Indians was to intimidate them ; so much so, that when 
volunteer companies visited their villages for scalps 
they found them all deserted. 

Captain John Love well, of Dunstable, raised a volun- '■ 
teer company and met with great success. At one time 
he fell in with an Indian trail and pursued it till he dis- 
covered them asleep on the bank of a pond. They 
were all killed, and their scalps, stretched upon hoops, 



LOVEWELL'S DEATH. 



183 



served to decorate their triumphal return. They, of 
course, received the bounty, which amounted to 'ten 
pounds. 

(1725.) Lovewell, having augmented his company 
to 46 men, again set out with the intention of attacking 
an Indian town on the Saco. They built a fort on the 
Great Ossapy pond, and then proceeded, leaving one of 
their number sick, and eight men to guard the fort. 

When about 22 miles from the fort they rested on the 
banks of a pond, where they discovered a single Indian 
at a distance, on a point of land, and rightly judging 
that he was attached to a large party of Indians, Love- 
well determined to advance and attack them. Accord- 
ingly the whole company threw off their packs in one 
place among the brakes ; and, to gain the advantage, 
the men were spread so as partially to surround the wa- 
ter. Lovewell had, however, mistaken the position of 
the Indians, who were already on his track, and coming 
to the place where the packs were deposited, by count- 
ing them discovered the number of English to be less 
than their own. They, therefore, marched to assault 
the English in the rear, and actually hemmed them in 
between the mouth of a brook, a rockv point, a deep 
bog, and the pond. The company, completely sur- 
rounded, fought desperately till nightfall, when the In- 
dians, tired of the conflict/moved off. The number of 
killed and wopnded amounted to 23, Lovewell being 
among the former. The remainder of the party re- 
turned to the fort which had been deserted, in conse- 
jj quence of the arrival of one of Lovewell's men who 
i| fled at the beginning of the fight, and reported all the 
ij rest killed. After resting, they started for home, where 
they arrived, to the great joy of their friends, after en- 
L during the severest hardships. The survivors were lib- 
erally compensated, and the widows and families of the 
l slam were provided for by the government of the pro- 
j vince. 

In the same year, with the battle just mentioned, 
three commissioners were dispatched from Massachu- 
I setts and New Hampshire to present a remonstrance to 



184 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



the governor of Canada. The governor, at first, denied 
all connexion with the Indians; but when the letters to 
Ralle were produced, he promised to endeavour to pa- 
cify them. The commissioners had an interview with 
the hostile chiefs, but came to no accommodation with 
them, for their powers did not extend so far. The depu- 
tation returned and made their report, which deter- 
mined the states to carry on the war with more spirit. 
Every provision that could be was made for defence. 
In the meanwhile, the Indians repeated their attacks on 
Dover, where they took three or four prisoners. John 
Evans was wounded, and the blood flowing very plen- 
tifully, the Indians scalped him, and left him as dead. 
But he was in perfect possession of his faculties all the 
time the cruel operation of scalping was performed, and 
lived afterwards fifty years. This was the last action in 
the war, a treaty having been ratified at Boston. 

The chief calamities and expenses of this war fell 
upon New Hampshire. The hatred existing between 
the Indians and English was continually fanned by the 
former, who would often boast to the latter how many 
they had slain or tortured, naming among the victims, 
very often, members of the family to which they were 
telling their adventures. 



CHAPTER X. 



LAST FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 

(1754 to 1759.) 

N forming their first set- 
tlements in Louisiana, the 
French endeavoured to 
connect their possessions 
in that region with those 
of Canada, by a chain of 
intermediate posts. Fort 
Niagara had been erected 
between Lakes Erie and 
Ontario, and Crown Point, 
on the south-west of Lake 
Champlain. This state of things was preserved by the 
treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748; and the French, 
wishing to make the communication between the lakes 
and the Mississippi more certain, erected new forts 
along the banks of the Ohio, that they might prevent 
any other European colony from forming an establish- 
ment there. The planters of Virginia now began to 
j cast their eyes upon this country; the cultivation of 
tobacco quickly exhausted the land, and they proceeded 
! gradually, farther and farther into the country, that 
| they might have a richer soil to cultivate. The in- 
crease of their productions encouraged them to pursue 
their labours ; and when a large number of them had 
; arrived at the foot of the Alleghanies, they endeavoured 
to cross them, and settle on their western side. In 
London there was formed, in 1749, an association 

16 * (185) 




186 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

which was established under the name of the Ohio 
Company : the British government granted it six hun- 
dred thousand acres of land, and a superintendent was 
sent, m 1751, to choose the site of this grant, and to 
establish commercial relations with the Indians. But 
when the governor of Canada heard of this, he gave 
notice to the English colonies to recall the merchants 
and planters who had settled on this territory, and de- 
clared that he would seize on the persons of those who 
retused to retire. 

The English did not yield to this command, and the 
governor of Virginia sent, in 1753, a message to the 
commander of the forts on the Ohio, requesting him to 
withdraw; but the commander replied that he received 
no orders but from his most Christian Majesty or the 
governor of Canada; that the country belonged to the 
French, and that no Englishman should be allowed to 
settle upon it. It was necessary to sustain so positive 
a declaration with energy, and Fort du Quesne was 
immediately constructed at the confluence of the Alle- 
ghany and Monongahela, where the waters of these 
two rivers unite and form the Ohio. The discontent 
increased on both sides; complaints multiplied, and 
finally hostilities broke out, which changed the political 
situation of this part of the New World. 
. The English, in this struggle, had a decided supe- 
riority in numbers; in the colonies there were twenty 
times as many inhabitants as in Canada and Louisiana, 
lo balance this, the French had recourse to the Indian 
nations ; their influence over the minds of the savages 
was skilfully increased by means of their missionaries; 
they had acquired over some tribes in Louisiana the 
same ascendency as in Canada, and they formed of 
them useiul auxiliaries. But the minds of the Indians 
were so wavering that they could not be counted on 
lor continued and vigorous assistance. 

h ° s »s first commenced, the colonies peti- 
tioned England for aid. Little intercourse at that time 
prevailed between them : they were all independent of 
one anotner; and as the mother country had not re- 



EXPEDITION AGAINST FORT DU QUESNE. 



187 



served the same rights over all of them, she could not 
enjoy an equal influence in their deliberations, nor com- 
pel them to divide among themselves, in a mariner pro- 
portioned to their resources, all the charges of the 
common defence. The colonies which were nearest 
the disputed territory were first engaged in the quarrel ; 
which soon became general. 

An expedition was prepared against Fort du Quesne, 
and the English first established a small fort some 
leagues from that place; but in the month of April, 
1754, the French commander marched to the post, at 
the head of a detachment, and ordered them to depart 
As they w^ere very inferior in numbers, they obeyed 
his orders, and abandoned their works, which were 
immediately destroyed. 

This retreat was but momentary, and the English 
fell back upon new troops whom they had expected. 
A regiment raised in Virginia, and placed under the 
command of Colonel Frye, was proceeding at the same 
time, towards the banks of the Monongahela : George 
Washington, then twenty-two years of age, was lieu- 
tenant-colonel of the regiment, to which several bodies 
of Indians were attached. He did not wait the com- 
plete formation of this corps to proceed to the theatre 
of military operations ; he conducted the recruits first 
raised to the Great Meadows,- where he commenced 
the construction of Fort Necessity; and, with two 
companies of soldiers and a body of Indians, he ap- 
proached Fort du Quesne, that he might discover the 
best w T ay in which the troops could reach it. Arrived 
within some leagues of the fort, he met a French de- 
tachment of twenty or thirty men, who received at 

I first from the English two discharges of musketry. 
Inmonville, the commander of the detachment, endea- 
voured to make it understood that he had a commission 
for the English commander; but before he could make 
this known he was killed by a musket-ball ; his troops 

| were surrounded, and all were taken prisoners except 
one, who made his escape and carried the news to 
Fort du Quesne. 



188 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



After this event. Washington returned to Fort 
Necessity, taking with him his prisoners, who were 
afterwards sent to Virginia; and whilst they were 
continuing to fortify this post, where the English 
were receiving new troops, the French resolved to 
attack them. A body of five hundred regular troops 
with a great number of Indians, was charged with this 
expedition, which set out June 28th, under the com- 
mand of Captain Villiers, brother of Inmonville. 
■ On the 3d of July, they arrived before Fort Neces- 
sity and immediately began the attack. A continual 
fire was kept up; this lasted till evening; the English 
had already lost one hundred and fifty men ; and Vil- 
liers, wishing to spare a farther effusion of blood, sum- 
moned them to surrender under articles of capitulation. 
The conditions were signed in the night; and Wash- 
ington having become commander of the fort in con- 
sequence of the death of Colonel Frye, retired from the 
place with the honours of war. The English engaged 
on their part to send immediately to Fort du Quesne 
the prisoners whom they had formerly taken. 

On the 1st of February, 1755, General Braddock 
arrived in Virginia and took command of the army. 
He established his head-quarters at Alexandria, where 
he assembled his troops, and on the 18th of April con- 
voked a congress of the different colonies, to concert 
with them the system of operation for the ensuing cam- 
paign. It was then determined to form three expeditions, 
one near the boundaries of Acadia, another near Lake 
Champlain, and a third near Lake Ontario, whilst Brad- 
dock himself should march to the Ohio and take Fort du 
Quesne. He had under his command three thousand 
troops, consisting of regulars and militia, besides a small 
body of Indians, and marched forward till he arrived at 
the Great Meadows, where he made a fortified camp, 
and left Colonel Dunbar there with eight hundred men. 
He himself proceeded with the main body till he arrived 
within seven miles of the fort. Braddock was a very able 
general, but he had never before served in America, and 
was wholly unacquainted with the Indian mode of fighting. 



BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT. 



191 



Captain Contracoeur, commander of Fort du Quesne, 
learned, on the 8th of July, that the English were ap- 
proaching ; he had but few men under his command, 
but he placed all the troops he could dispose of under 
the direction of Captain Beaujeu. They left the fort 
at eight o'clock in the morning, and met the English 
about mid-day. They immediately began the attack, 
whilst their Indian auxiliaries sought to surround the 
English by spreading from right to left in the thick for- 
est. Braddock, instead of sending out an advanced 
guard to scour the thickets, bore down with his whole 
force against the enemy who were before him. Beau- 
jeu was killed at the third discharge, and Captain Du- 
mas took the command. The Indians, concealed in the 
woods, shot down the English while theythemselves were 
invisible; and the ranks of Braddock's army were so thin- 
ned in a short time that they ceased to resist, and began to 
fly ; most of the officers were either killed or wounded 
in attempting to restore order. Braddock, himself, was 
mortally wounded, and carried from the field of battle, 
where he left his artillery, and a third part of his sol- 
diers. (See Engraving on opposite page.) Those who 
survived this disaster, and could have rallied round Col- 
onel Dunbar, only joined him to carry confusion into 
his camp, and to drag him with them in their flight. 
They did not stop till they reached Virginia ; and the 
establishments of the interior were thus left to the mer- 
cy of the Indians. Previous to the battle, Washington, 
who was aid to Braddock, had warned him of the dan- 
ger of a surprise, and advised him to send forward 
scouts to prevent it : but his advice was scornfully re- 
jected. It was chiefly owing to his skill and bravery 
that the remnant of the army was saved. 

The war in America now took different forms. Col- 
onel Monckton, an English officer, had been charged to 
extend towards the north the boundaries of Acadia, 
which was still limited to the peninsula of that name. 
On the isthmus which separates the continent from this 
peninsula, the French had erected two forts, named 
Gasparaux and Beausejour. But Great Britain wished 



192 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



to possess all the region situated between Acadia and 
New England: she demanded of France the cession of 
a territory of twenty leagues in width, along the whole 
northern shore of the bay of Fundy; and, not being 
able to obtain it by the negotiations of commission- 
ers charged with the making of the limits, Colonel 
Monckton suddenly attacked Fort Beausejour with three 
thousand men. This fortress sustained the sieo-e for 
fourteen days, and did not capitulate till the 3 6th of 
June. The reduction of this fort led to that of Fort 
Gasparaux, which had a garrison of but forty men ; 
and the English spreading themselves to the north of 
the bay, proceeded to attack Fort St. John, near the 
river of this name. The commander having but a few 
men, burnt the fort, and retired into the interior of the 
country where the Abenaquis (or eastern Indians) had 
taken arms, and from whence they made frequent incur- 
sions into Acadia. 

While these events were passing in Acadia, a body 
of English troops, and three hundred Indians from the 
Six Nations, under the command of General William 
Johnson, advanced towards Crown Point, but first de- 
termined to attack Fort Ticonderoga, then recently 
erected by the French ; but the governor of Canada had 
already provided for its defence, and the French wish- 
ing to be beforehand with Johnson, first defeated a de- 
tachment of one thousand men, and on the 8th of Sep- 
tember, 1755 attacked his camp ; but in this affair Dies- 
kau, their commander, was mortally wounded and taken 
prisoner ; they were defeated with the loss of seven ! 
hundred men, and were driven back upon Fort Ticon- 
deroga. Johnson was also wounded, and his loss in 
these two battles, or his want of activity, prevented him 
from accomplishing the purposes of his expedition. 

The defeat of the English near Fort du Quesne gave 
the advantages of the war thus far to the French. The 
Cherokees took advantage of this event to rise up against 
the English. They were, besides, stimulated to do this 
by emissaries from the Indians of the Ohio. But they 
were met in conference by Governor Glen, of South 



CAMPAIGN OF 1757. 



193 



Carolina, and renewed their treaties, making also addi- 
tional grants of land. 

War had not been formally declared between France 
and England. But France seizing on the island of Mi- 
norca, Great Britain declared w r ar on the 17th of May, 
1756. Lord Loudoun, the commander-in-chief of the 
: English troops in America, a most inefficient officer, 
was at first obliged to act on the defensive ; he estab- 
lished his head-quarters at Albany, when he contented 
himself with protecting the threatened territories. New 
England raised a force of three thousand men ; New 
York contributed a like number ; and these, joined to the 
force of General Johnson, again prepared to attack Ti- 
conderoga and Crown Point. But during the prepara- 
tions for this expedition, the Marquis de Montcalm at- 
tacked Fort Oswego, situated on the southern shore of 
Lake Ontario. This fortress was occupied by fifteen 
hundred men; it surrendered on the 14th of August, 
1756, after haying sustained the siege for some days. 
The garrison were made prisoners ; and being merci- 
lessly abandoned to the cruelties of the Indians by the 
French, many of them were murdered. This loss hav- 
ing disconcerted the plan of operations of the English, 
they could not, during the remainder of the campaign, 
accomplish any thing effectual. 

Lord Loudoun commenced the campaign of 1757 at 
the head of six thousand troops, raised in New Eng- 
land, New York, and New Jersey, with which, it was 
expected, by the Americans, that he would again attempt 
| the reduction of Ticonderoga and Crown Point. But 
j the news of a considerable armament having been dis- 
patched from Britain to Nova Scotia, caused him to al- 
ter his intention and unite his force with this armament 
at Halifax and attempt the reduction of Louisburg. But 
he discovered, when too late, that this place was garri- 
soned by six thousand troops, besides militia, and de-' 
fended by seventeen line-of-battle ships. He therefore 
dismissed the provincial troops, and returned to New 
York, there to learn the disaster which his conduct had 
17 



194 



INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. 



occasioned in another quarter, and which crowned the 
disgrace of this inglorious campaign. 

Montcalm, the French commander, taking advantage 
of Lord Loudoun's absence from the proper scene of 
action, advanced with an army of nine thousand men, 
and laid siege to Fort William Henry, which was gar- 
risoned by nearly three thousand troops, partly English 
and partly American, and commanded by an English 
officer, Colonel Monroe. The security of this import- 
ant post was supposed to be further promoted by its 
proximity to Fort Edward, fourteen miles distant from 
it, where the English general, Webb, was stationed with 
four thousand men. Had Webb done his duty, Fort 
William Henry might have been saved. But he gave 
no succour to the besieged, nor did he even endeavour 
to aid the place by summoning the American govern- 
ments to send militia to their relief. He merely wrote 
a letter to Monroe, advising him to surrender. Mont- 
calm, on the other hand, pressed the assault on Fort 
William Henry with the utmost vigour and skill. He 
had inspired his own daring spirit into the French sol- 
diers, and had roused the fury and enthusiasm of his 
Indian allies by promises of revenge and plunder. Af- 
ter a spirited resistance of six days, Monroe, having ex- 
hausted his ammunition, and seeing not the slightest 
prospect of relief, was compelled to surrender the place 
by a capitulation, the terms of which were, that the gar- 
rison should not serve against the French for eighteen 
months ; that they should march out with the honours 
of war ; and, retaining their private baggage, be escort- 
ed to Fort Edward by the French troops, as a security 
against the lawless ferocity of the Indians. 

This treaty of capitulation was violated by Montcalm 
in a manner w 7 hich fixes eternal disgrace on his memo- 
ry. No sooner had the garrison marched out, and sur- 
rendered their arms, in reliance upon the pledge of the 
French general, than a furious and irresistible attack 
was made upon them by the Indians, who stripped them 
both of their baggage and clothes, and murdered or 
made prisoners of all who attempted resistance. At 



(196) 



CAPTURE OF LOUISBURG. 



197 



least fifteen hundred persons were thus slaughtered or 
carried into captivity. Such was the lot of eighty men 
belonging to a New Hampshire regiment, of which the 
complement was but two hundred. A number of the 
Indian allies of the English, who had formed part of the 
garrison, fared still more miserably. They were seized 
by their savage enemies, and perished in lingering and 
barbarous torture. (See Engraving on the opposite page.) 
Of the garrison of Fort William Henry, little more than 
half were enabled to gain the shelter of Fort Edward, 
in a straggling and wretched condition. 

This disaster roused the colonies of Massachusetts 
and Connecticut, who raised and dispatched a force to 
arrest the further progress of the French. But Mont- 
calm, content with this savage triumph, attempted no- 
thing further in that quarter : the only additional opera- 
tion of the French, for this season, was a predatory 
excursion in concert with their Indian allies against the 
flourishing settlement of German Flats, in the province 
of New York, and along the Mohawk river, which 
region they utterly wasted with fire and sword. 

The English now determined to attempt the conquest 
of Cape Breton. Accordingly a fleet under Admiral 
Boscawen sailed for this island, and arrived on the 2d 
of June, 1758, in the bay of Gabori. The troops were 
landed; their chief commander was General Amherst, 
and under him were Brigadier-Generals Lawrence, 
Wolf and Whitmore. They proceeded towards Louis- 
burg, which place, after a severe resistance, capitulated : 
it was stipulated that the garrison should depart with 
the honours of war, that the island of Cape Breton 
| should be surrendered, and that the island of St. John 
should also be given up. 

General Abercrombie, who succeeded Lord Loudon 
in the command of the army, now determined to pro- 
ceed against General Montcalm, who was encamped 
near Ticonderoga with three thousand regular troops, 
and twelve hundred Canadians and Indians. They 

were attacked by the English on the 8th of July, 1758; 
17* 



198 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



but the British were defeated with the loss of two thou- 
sand men, killed or taken prisoners. 

Notwithstanding the loss which the English had sus- 
tained, they still had the advantage of numbers, and 
formed other enterprises. Colonel Bradstreet pro- 
ceeded towards Fort Frontignac, situated on the east- 
ern extremity of Lake Ontario, and on the 27th of 
August, succeeded in making himself master of it. 
This capture interrupted the communications of Lower 
Canada with the great lakes ; and the English found in 
the arsenal a great quantity of arms and munitions of 
war, destined for the French troops on the banks of the 
Ohio. Another expedition was now directed towards 
Fort du Quesne, which could no longer receive from 
Canada the assistance which it previously had enjoyed. 
But before attacking this place the English had sought 
to detach the Delawares, Shawanese, Mingoes, and 
several other Indian tribes adjacent to the river, from 
their alliance with the French. In the preceding year, 
a treaty of peace had been concluded at Easton, be- 
tween the Pennsylvanians and the Delawares; and 
this treaty led to a good understanding with the other 
tribes. 

A Moravian brother, named Frederick Post, of Ger- 
man origin, was charged with this important mission, 
He had lived seventeen years in the midst of the Mo- 
hican Indians, with the design of converting them to 
Christianity. He departed from Philadelphia July 
15th, 1758, and soon arrived on the banks of the Mon- 
ongahela. The chief of the Delaware tribe was with 
him ; he wished that all the Indians from the rising 
to the setting of the sun, w r ould form but one body ; 
he desired to inspire them with the love of peace; and 
he sent messengers to all the neighbouring tribes, to 
invite their chiefs to assemble with him around the 
council fire and smoke together the pipe of peace. 

A deputation of Shawanese and Mingoes soon joined 
him ; they proceeded nearer to Fort du Quesne, from 
which they were now T no longer separated except by 
the bed of the river. The French commander could 



THE ENGLISH INVADE CANADA, 



not prevent this interview, although he feared its results. 
Post now rose and explained the objects of the meeting 
in a few words, stating that the English sought their 
love instead of hatred, and that they desired a peace 
with them. (See Engraving on the opposite page.) 

After having heard these propositions, the chiefs pro- 
ceeded to deliberate upon them, and a few days after 
they declared that they would accede to the conditions 
of peace already concluded with the Delawares. Post 
having accomplished his mission, quitted the banks of 
the Ohio. August 27th, and returned to give an account 
of the success of his expedition. 

Post afterwards proceeded to the valley of Beaver 
Creek, among the Shawanese, whose territory extended 
as far as the Scioto. The French sent messengers to 
these Indians inviting them to come to Fort du Quesne 
in all haste, to assist them against the English ; but 
their opinions had by this time been changed ; they re- 
fused to go ; and the successive abandonment of the 
different tribes took from the French all power of de- 
fending the place : they therefore resolved to abandon 
it. and await assistance in some other place. Accord- 
ingly, on the 25th of November, they left the post, and 
a few days afterwards, General Forbes arrived and 
took possession of it. The loss of Fort du Quesne led 
to that of all the other French posts situated on and near 
the Ohio. 

In 1759, the English fitted out a maritime expedition 
against the French possessions in the Antilles. They 
landed eight thousand men on the 16th of February, on 
the island of Martinico. But General Beauharnais, 
governor of the island, marched against them at the 
head of the troops and colonists, and compelled them 
to re-embark. The fleet then sailed to Guadaloupe. 

The preparations for the invasion of Canada were 
now nearly completed. A fleet set out under the com- 
mand of Admiral Saunders, and ten thousand men 
were placed under the orders of General Wolf. A 
part of the army landed, June 29th, 1759, on the west- 



202 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES, 



era extremity of the island of Orleans: two other di- 
visions afterwards landed, one near Point Levi th P 
other near Montmorency Falls. The English armv 
was thus divided into three bodies, placed at the d« 
tance of some miles from one another: and it was at 
first unknown to the French upon what point the prin- 
cipal attack would be made. ' F 

The French camp charged with protecting the can-: 
tal was established in the plains of Beaufort, separated 
from Quebec by the river St. Charles: Montcalm wn« 
commander of the armv ; but he had to concert hk 
operations with the Marquis de Vaudreuil, governor of 
Canada, one of whose officers was then in The carno * 
On the 12th of July, the English batteries on the 
Heights of Lausou began a destructive fire, and the 
shells they threw into the lower city soon destroyed I 
great part of it. On the 31st of the same month the 
-bnglish made an attack on the left win- of the Frenrh 
camp but were defeated. They now placed smafl 
detainments in light vessels which ravaged the shores 
of the river, and distracted the attention of the French 
who were finally obliged to send a detachment of two' 
thousand men under the command of Bougainville to 
protect the shores. This officer established his head 
quarters at the village of Sillery, about three leagues 
from Quebec, and placed a line of sentinels along the 
river so that the English could now make no attempt 
at landing without being discovered. 

_ General Wolf having now by degrees assembled all 
his forces at Point Levi, on the night of the 12th of 
September, embarked in vessels and landed on the left 
side ol the river. He surprised the first post of the 
enemy; and finally succeeded in reaching the heights 



of Abraham without giving the alarm to the French 

As soon as day broke the English were perceived bv 
their astonished enemy, ranged in battle ord 



council of the principal French officers bein- 
was resolved to march immediately against i 
Accordingly, Montcalm proceeded agaiilt the Eng- 
lish ; many charges were made, and the engagement 



ar: ana a 
teld, it 
them. 



THE ENGLISH CONQUER CANADA. 



203 



was so destructive as to occasion considerable disorder 
in both armies. The English had the advantage of 
numbers, and were ranged in two lines ; so that if the 
first were broken they could rally behind the second. 
But the French were drawn out in a single line, and 
they were soon thrown into confusion. Montcalm 
himself was mortally wounded, and Seunezergue, the 
second in command, was killed on the spot. The Eng- 
lish now soon put to flight the army which was desti- 
tute of a commander, and was already in utter disorder. 
General Wolf, the brave commander of the English, 
was also killed, so that both the generals shared the 
same fate. 

Vaudreuil now left Quebec with his troops, and 
authorized Ramsay, the commander of the city, to capit- 
ulate on the best conditions that he could obtain. Ac- 
cordingly, on the 18th of September articles of capitu- 
lation were signed ; the garrison left the city with their 
arms and baggage, drums beating, and embarked, to 
be landed at the first port of France. George Town- 
send, becoming commander of the English army after 
the death of General Wolf, took possession of the place. 

This important conquest led to the immediate submis- 
sion of Upper Canada, while the French still occupied 
Montreal and several other fortified places ; but they 
had lost, in the beginning of the siege of Quebec, Ni- 
agara fort. This loss, and that of Fort Frontignac, 
gave to the English the navigation of Lake Ontario, 
and enabled them to send by this route a new body of 
troops to Montreal and the neighbouring places ; and 
the conquest of all Canada, and the consequent expul- 
sion of the French power from this part of North 
1 America, was the immediate consequence. 



CHAPTER XI. 



PONTIAC'S WAR. 




REAT as were many of 
the western Indian war- 
riors, none was greater 
than Pontiac, a chief 
whose fame was not only 
spread throughout Amer- 
ica, but widely diffused 
in Europe. He was the 
chief of all the Indians 
on the chain of lakes: 
- the Ottawas, to. which he 
belonged, the Miamis, Chippewas, Wyandots, Potta- 
watomies, Winnebagoes, Shawanese, Ottagamies, and 
Mississagas, all of which tribes afterwards were led 
by Tecumseh. Pontiac is said to have possessed a 
majestic and princely appearance, so pleasing to the 
Indians, and this in part accounts for his popularity 
among them. J 
In 1760, after the capture of Quebec, Major Rogers 
was sent into the country of Pontiac to drive the French 
from it. Being informed of his approach, Pontiac sent 
word to him to wait until he came to him. The major 
waited, and when Pontiac came, that chief asked him 
why he entered his dominions without permission The 
major answered that he came not against the natives 
but the French ; and at the same time gave the chief 
several belts of wampum; whereupon Pontiac replied, 
" 1 stand in the path you travel until to-morrow morn- 
ing." By this was meant that he must not proceed 

(204) 



PONTIAC. 205 

until the next morning. Upon an offer of the Indian, 
Major Rogers bought a large quantity of parched corn, 
and other provisions. The next day Pontiac offered 
him every facility for the undertaking. Messengers 
were sent to the different tribes to assure them that" the 
English had his permission to pass through the country, 
and he even accompanied the major and troops as far 
as Detroit. He was noted for the desire of knowledge, 
and while the English were in his country, he was very 
curious in examining their arms, clothes, &c, and ex- 
pressed a wish to go to England. He said that he 
would allow white settlements within his domains ; 
and was willing to call the king of England wide, but 
not master. He further told the soldiers that they 
must behave themselves peaceably while in his country, 
or he would stop the way. 

Pontiac had distinguished himself at Detroit and 
Michillimackinac. When the French gave up Canada 
(1760), their Indian allies still preserved their hatred 
towards the English, and as Pontiac was the most con- 
siderable enemy of that nation, the adjacent tribes all 
came to him as a support against them. Pontiac had 
advanced farther in civilization than any of the neigh- 
bouring chiefs : he appointed a commissary during the 
war of 1763, called Pontiac's war; and issued bills of 
credit, on each of which was pictured the thing desired, 
and the figure of an otter, the symbol of his tribe. In 
1763 Major Rogers sent a bottle of brandy to him, which 
Pontiac was counselled not to drink, as it probably con- 
tained poison. But with the greatest magnanimity he 
exclaimed, " It is not in his power to kill him who has 
1 so lately saved his life." 

Early in 1763 indications began to exhibit themselves 
of an unfriendly disposition among the tribes of Pon- 
tiac ; and some persons informed Major Gladwin, who 
commanded at Detroit, of this circumstance. • The 
commander immediately sent some soldiers into the 
Indian country, who returned, saying that all was 
peaceable. 

About the same time, some traders reported at Fort 
1 18 



206 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Michillimackinac .that the Indians were preparing for 
hostilities. Major Etherington, the commander, re- 
fused credit to any such stories, and even threatened to 
send the next person who retailed such false reports 
prisoner to Detroit. It was also observed that the In- 
dians began to assemble in large numbers, and even 
spread themselves in the town. This latter circumstance 
was reported to the major by one of his friends, who 
added that they should not be trusted. This advice 
was received with derision, and he was accused of 
timidity. 

On the king's birth-day, June 4th, a large band of 
Indians collected without the palisades of the fort, to 
play ball. This was played with a bat, which knocked 
the ball a great distance ; and as the game was inte- 
resting, the whole of the garrison, about ninety men, 
were lookers-on. In the midst of the game, the ball 
was intentionally knocked into the fort, and all the In- 
dians leaping the palisades, took the guards and gar- 
rison prisoners, and thus obtained possession of Michilli- 
mackinac. Seventy of the garrison were slaughtered, 
and the other twenty made slaves. A day "or two 
after, a party, in a vessel from Montreal, not knowing 
of the capture, came to the fort and were taken by the 
Indians. In this affair, Pontiac did not engage in per- 
son, but connived at it. 

Within ten days after this, every post in Michigan, 
except Detroit, fell into the hands of Pontiac. This 
was closely invested by Pontiac, before the taking of 
Michillimackinac. The garrison consisted of three hun- 
dred men. The Indians, on their first appearance, had 
their wives, and commodities for trade : and from this, 
no suspicion of stratagem was aroused. The chief en- 
camped near the fort, and sent word to Major Gladwin 
that he wished to have a talk with him. to brighten the 
chain of peace between the English and him." To this 
the major agreed, and fixed the ensuing morning for 
the meeting. In the meantime, an incident occurred 
which prevented the destruction of the fort. 

An Indian woman who had been making moccasins 



PONTTAC'S CONSPIRACY. 



207 



of elk-skin, came to Major Gladwin with a pair of 
them, and brought the remaining skin. The major 
returned the skin for her to make another pair, and 
then dismissed her. When the time came for strangers 
to leave the place, she remained in the area. When 
questioned as to her stay, she would not answer, and 
her strange demeanour being reported to the major, 
she was ordered into his presence. The major having 
inquired why she stayed, she answered with much hesi- 
tation, that she did not wish to take away the skin, as 
he valued it so much. He inquired why she did not 
object to it before. She answered, with some confu- 
sion, that if she took it, she could never return it to 
him. Judging, from this, that the woman knew of 
some plot of the Indians for the capture of the fort, 
he promised her protection and 'reward, if she would 
tell what was the matter. Reassured, she informed him 
that each Indian that would attend the council on the 
morrow, would have a fusil under his blanket, and when 
Pontiac should give the signal by handing the peace-belt 
of wampum to the commander, they would commence 
the attack. While the council was sitting, a large num- 
ber of warriors were to enter the town to assist in the 
massacre. 

After obtaining all possible information from the wo- 
man, he discharged her, and proceeded to make ar- 
rangements for a counterplot. He put the soldiers in 
possession of the information, and, after seeing that the 
guards for the night were placed, he retired to his 
house. 

During the night, a strange war-cry sounded from 
the Indian quarters. Each man repaired to his post, 
but no attack was made. 

At the hour of ten next day, Pontiac, with a number 
of warriors, was admitted, and then the gates were 
closed. This, and the number of soldiers that sur- 
rounded the council-house, did not fail to attract the 
notice of the chief. But Major Gladwin told him that 
the troops were only drilling, and this seemed to satisfy 
him. The council opened by a speech of Pontiac, in 



208 INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. 

the midst of which he passed the belt to the governor, 
but neglected the signal, for he saw, from the half- 
drawn swords of the officers, that they were betrayed. 
With great presence of mind, he continued his speech, 
which contained numberless protestations of eternal 
friendship to the English. When he concluded, Major 
Gladwin spoke, and reproached him with the con- 
spiracy. Pontiac denied that any such plot had been 
contrived ; but when the governor drew aside the 
blanket of the chief nearest him, and disclosed the ^un, 
the Indian was silenced. The governor ordered them 
to leave the fort, and it was with the greatest difficulty 
that the men could be restrained from cutting them to 
pieces. So jealous was Gladwin of his honour, that he 
retained no one of them for a hostage, but kept his 
word to let them go unharmed and without hindrance. 

On the next day, a furious attack was made by Pon- 
tiac's warriors on the fort. They thrust a cart full of 
combustibles against the pickets : they began to shoot 
fire-arrows at a church, but were stopped by a French 
priest, who assured the chief that it would brin £f down 
the vengeance of God upon him. At length they com- 
menced making a breach in the pickets, and the govern- 
or ordered his men to assist them from the inside. When 
a passage was opened, the savages rushed forward ; but 
were almost all destroyed by a four-pounder which was 
fired among them as they entered. The rest retreated ; 
and the place was repaired. This defeat, however, pre- 
vented them from assaulting the fort any more ; but 
they commenced a blockade which caused great distress 
in the garrison. 

Fort Pitt and Fort Niagara were closely besieged at 
the same time, which prevented any succour being sent 
to Detroit, but being relieved by Colonel Bouquet,°Cap- 
tain Dalyell was sent on the 29th July. A day or two 
after, Captain Dalyell, with two hundred and forty-sev- 
en men, attempted to surprise Pontiac in his camp ; but 
that chief being apprised by his runners of his coming, 
prepared for them near a bridge, where he concealed 
his men behind a picket fence. When the troops came 



SIEGE OF DETROIT, 



209 



to this ambush, they received a destructive fire from their 
unseen enemy. They immediately turned and strove 
to repass the bridge, but this was not accomplished with- 
out great loss. About two hundred men regained the 
fort without Captain Dalyell, who was slain on the 
bridge. In this affair, commonly called the battle of 
Detroit, nineteen men were killed and forty-two wound- 
ed; among the latter were Captain Gray and Lieuten- 
ants Brown and Luke. The bridge on which it was 
fought has, since then, been called " Bloodv Bridge." 

Shortly after the battle, several vessels, bringing pro- 
visions to the besieged, were intercepted by Pontiac, 
and their crews were cruelly treated. On the 8th Sep- 
tember, a schooner from Fort Niagara, manned with 
eighteen men, arrived near Detroit, but being fired upon 
by the Indians, tacked and stood out into the strait. She 
was followed by the Indians in their canoes, who, after 
killing almost all the crew, boarded her and began to 
ransack the cabin. The captain, seeing that he would 
be killed if he fell into their hands, resolved to effect 
their destruction with his own. He cried out to the 
gunner to fire the magazine. A Huron, who understood 
English, hearing this, told his fellows, and a general re- 
treat to the canoes ensued, and the schooner sailed up 
to the fort. The governor was so grateful for this de- 
liverance from starvation, that he had silver medals 
struck commemorative of the event, and presented to 
every one of the crew. 

The siege of Detroit lasted twelve months, and by 
that time General Bradstreet marched for the relief of 
it. Pontiac being informed of this, sued for peace, 
which was granted, and he returned to his own coun- 
try. He was a good friend to the English after this 
war, and the government rewarded him with a pension. 
He was inclined, it is said, to assist the Americans in 
the Revolution, but was prevented by General Hamil- 
ton of Detroit. 

During the war he went into Illinois to an Indian 
council there, and the English, suspecting him, employ- 
ed an Indian as a spy upon him. When he attended 
IS- 



210 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



the council he made a speech unfriendly to the English, 
and was stabbed to the heart by the treacherous spy. 

Pontiac was an uncommon man for talents and saga- 
city. Every war in which he engaged was favourable 
to his tribes; and he never allowed himself to be mis- 
led by either the English or French. He was as cau- 
tious in the council as in the field ; determined and suc- 
cessful in his schemes ; and, in short, was unequalled by 
any Indian chief, unless we except Philip of Pokano- 
ket. 



CHAPTER XII. 
WAR OF THE WESTERN INDIANS. 

(1763.) 



ANADA, and all the de- 
pendent provinces east of 
the Mississippi, were now 
lost to France; and the 
renunciation of these pos- 
sessions entirely changed 
the situation of the In- 
dians; those who dwelt 
south of the great lakes 
experienced, above all, 
the effects of this cession. 
The French had occupied there but a few establish- 
ments ; and they had formed around these posts, and 
under their shelter, several plantations, the addition of 
which was hardly taken notice of; these positions offer- 
ed, in time of war, means of defence, and rallying 
points ; they insured during peace commercial commu- 
nications, and a mutual confidence reigned between 
the French and a great many of the tribes. 




INDIAN CONFEDERACY AGAINST THE ENGLISH. 211 



The Indian nations placed between the colonies of 
France and England enjoyed, besides, a great influence 
in the quarrels of the two nations ; they both sougbt to 
gain their friendship, and to employ them as auxiliaries. 

This political importance of the Indians was materially 
diminished when they had only one European power for 
neighbours, and when they were surrounded by its pos- 
sessions. The chain of fortified posts which were oc- 
cupied by the English, was composed of Forts Fron- 
tignac and Niagara, near Lake Ontario; those of 
Buffalo, Presqueile, and Sandusky, to the south of Lake 
Erie; Forts Miami and Detroit, towards its western 
extremity ; those of St. Joseph, Green-Bay, and Michil- 
limackinac, around Lake Michigan; the posts of the 
west were those of Illinois, Chartres, and Kaskaskia ; 
and in the interior w r ere found the Forts of Vincennes, 
on the Wabash ; of Massiac, near the mouth of the 
Tennessee ; of William, near the mouth of the Ken- 
tucky ; and of Pittsburg, upon the Ohio. 

The Indians on the territory over which these differ- 
ent posts were dispersed, were thus suddenly deprived of 
the assistance of a pow r er which had habitually protected 
them; and were consequently much alarmed. They re- 
garded these forts as the cradles of so many new T colonies ; 
and seeing the rapid increase of the English in all the 
regions they had conquered, they feared that each of 
these new establishments would extend in the same 
manner ; and that all the American nations finally crowd- 
ed upon one another would lose, progressively, their 
I territory. Struck with this opinion, w 7 hich so many 
! successive losses had greatly strengthened in their 
j minds, the Indians sought to unite, and prevent, by an 
unforeseen attack, the perils with which they believed 
themselves to be menaced. The Shawanese, Dela- 
wares, and the Indians of the Ohio, put themselves at 
the head of this confederation, which was formed in 
j 1763; the operations of war were distributed among 
all the tribes, and the forts occupied by the English on 
the frontiers of their new territory were simultaneously 
I attacked by the neighbouring Indians. The greater 



212 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

part of these posts had but feeble garrisons; the recent 
conclusion of peace augmented their security, and as 
they were not on their guard, the success of the enemy 
was more easy. The forts of Niagara, Detroit, and 
Pittsburg, were the only ones they did not seize ; the 
garrisons in them were more numerous, and they were 
better provisioned. The first was not even attacked ; 
Major Gladwin gallantly defended the second against 
the Ottawas ; and Fort Pittsburg, commanded by Cap- 
tain Ecuyer, resisted all the efforts of the Indians of 
the Ohio. A body of troops, under the command of 
Colonel Bouquet, was sent to the assistance of this 
place ; he proceeded towards Fort Sigonier, and rain- 
ed afterwards, by forced marches, the valley of Bushy- 
Run ; the defiles appeared to be still free ; but on the 
5th of August, 1763, the English were suddenly sur- 
rounded by a cloud of enemies, who rushed down from 
the neighbouring heights, and assailed them on all sides 
in this narrow passage. The Indians have a manner 
of fighting which always renders them formidable in 
this woody country. Their skirmishes are frequent ; 
they know well how to form ambuscades : motionless 
during whole days, they await in silence the arrival of 
an enemy: if they are too feeble to capture them, they 
only fly to return to the charge at another point: then- 
retreat is but a stratagem ; they fly so swiftly that they 
cannot be overtaken ; and it is necessary to surround 
them on every side in order to conquer them. 

In this sequel of engagements which began about 
mid-day, the English troops finally drove the Indians 
lrom all their positions; but the next morning at day- 
break, they were again surrounded by more numerous 
forces. Colonel Bouquet resolved to come to a decisive 
battie ; and when the action was commenced, he ordered 
the centre of the line to fall back with the view of draw- 
ing upon this point the principal attack of the Indians. 
His design was successful; the savages rushed into the 
passage thus opened to them; but the troops who re- 
treated hastily proceeded to form an ambuscade upon a 
height, covered with underwood, where their move- 



INDIANS DEFEATED BY THE BRITISH. 



213 



ments could not be perceived : suddenly they appeared, 
and rushed with impetuosity upon the flanks of the 
enemy, who, surprised and disconcerted by this unex- 
pected attack, were neither able to sustain the shock, 
nor to gain their places of retreat. A great number of 
them perished in these two battles of the 5th and 6th 
of August. This was the last attempt of the savages ; 
and Colonel Bouquet, pursuing his course towards Pitts- 
burg, arrived there four days afterwards with his con- 
voy, of which he had been obliged to destroy a part, 
because a great number of the horses had sunk under 
the fatigue and perils of the march. The object of his 
expedition w T as accomplished ; Pittsburg was relieved. 
The Indians, discouraged by two successive defeats, 
had abandoned the siege ; and Colonel Bouquet, having 
not enough troops to pursue them into their forests, re- 
turned to take up his winter quarters in Pennsylvania. 

The savages, descending the valleys of the Ohio, did 
not believe themselves in safety till they arrived at the 
Muskingum. There, they collected their forces; they 
sought other allies, and awaited the spring to renew 
their hostilities, and again ravage the frontiers. But 
General Gage, becoming commander of the British 
army, prepared two expeditions against them. A body 
of troops, under the command of Colonel Bradstreet, 
proceeded against the Wyandots, Ottawas, Chippewas, 
and other nations near the great lakes : another body, 
under Colonel Bouquet, was, as in the preceding cam- 
paign, to attack the nations situated between the great 
lakes and the Ohio. Bradstreet proceeded rapidly to San- 
dusky, and again took possession of all the forts of the 
north-w r est, that he might be able to restrain the Indians 
of these countries, and compel them to demand peace ; 
but the preparations for the expedition of the south re- 
quired much more time, and the troops that formed a 
part of it did not arrive at Pittsburg till the 17th of 
September, 1764. The Indians of Ohio w T ere then dis- 
concerted w 7 ith their imminent danger, and they sent 
messengers to Colonel Bouquet to treat for peace ; as 
their propositions, however, were still ambiguous, the 



214 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES* 



colonel, wishing to put an end to their uncertainty, pen- 
etrated farther into the interior of their country ; he 
gained the valleys of Beaver Creek and Muskingum; 
and the Indians, not being able to stop his march, de- 
manded, on the 17th of October, a conference to be 
held next day. That officer proceeded to the place ap- 
pointed with a body of regular troops, the Virginia 
volunteers, and a troop of light-horsemen: the chiefs 
of the Delawares, Shawanese, and Senecas, appeared 
with their principal warriors; and the colonel, after 
having recounted the infractions of their late treaty, 
told them that he would not grant them peace unless 
they would deliver to him all the prisoners whom they 
had in their possession : " I have with me," said he, 
"the relations and friends of those whom you have 
captured: they burn with the desire of revenue, and 
demand satisfaction. The Ottawas, Chippewas, and 
Wyandots, have already made a treaty of peace ; we 
are masters of the Ohio, the Mississippi, the Miamis, 
and the lakes ; we have surrounded you on every side, 
and could extirpate your whole nation ; but we will not 
treat you with so much rigour, if you deliver to us 
within twelve days, and without exception, all your pri- 
soners, English and French, men, women, and children, 
and also all the blacks whom you have taken away." 

On the first day, the Delawares restored eighteen 
Europeans, and they collected together, as a symbol of 
the other restitutions which they would make, a bundle" 
of eighty-three stalks of young plants, expressing the 
number of prisoners who were then absent. °The 
Shawanese hesitated to make such an engagement ; 
and to compel them to do it, Colonel Bouquet advanced 
into their country as far as the Scioto : they then agreed 
to restore their prisoners. On the 9th of November, 
two hundred and six of them were brought into the 
camp. On the same day a new conference was held 
for a treaty of peace : a treaty was first concluded 
between the Senecas and Delawares, and their orator, 
Kiyashuta, gave the necklaces or accustomed presents. 
" I offer this wampum to dry up the tears of your eyes, 



INDIANS SURRENDER THEIR PRISONERS. 



215 



and I restore unto you the last man of your flesh and 
blood who remains in the hands of the Senecas and 
Delawares. Let us bury with this other wampum all 
' the men who have perished during the war which the 
: evil spirit has raised up ; and let us again cover with 
aarth and leaves their dead bodies, so that they may 
no longer be seen, and that all the traces of our hate 
may be buried." The same conditions were afterwards 
made with the Shawanese ; and these, still preserving 
in their defeat their proud and noble character, declared 
that they did not renounce the war on account of their 
feebleness and exhaustion, but in commiseration of their 
wives and children. 

The arrival of all the prisoners in the camp afforded 
• a very affecting scene. Fathers, husbands, and brothers 
recognised their sons, wives, and sisters, from whom 
they had been separated : others seeking in vain for 
those whom they had lost, did not dare to inquire con- 
cerning their fate. The Indians themselves delivered 
up their captives with great regret ; for they had be- 
come attached to them, and had admitted them into 
their families; they, therefore, left them with tears, and 
' recommended them to the English commander. These 
prisoners had never been treated like slaves, and the In- 
dians, in granting them life, had adopted and cherished 
them as brothers, sisters, and children ; many had settled 
among the savages; they had learned their language, 
and adopted their customs, but were compelled to re- 
turn among the Europeans : some of them escaped and 
returned to the Indian settlements. 

The army having accomplished its design, proceeded 
i homew r ard on the 18th of November ; they reached Pitts- 
burg on the 28th ; garrisons were sent to the different 
1 posts. The prisoners proceeded towards their native 
i countries; and Colonel Bouquet returned, in the begin- 
I ning of January, 1765, to Philadelphia, where the repre- 
sentatives of Pennsylvania rendered him and his soldiers 
the thanks due to their services. The same was done 
by the representatives of Virginia ; and the King of 
England, George III., honoured the merits of the colo- 



216 INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. 

nel by appointing him brigadier-general of his armies, 
and by confiding to him a command in the southern 
provinces of North America. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



INDIAN WARS OF CAROLINA PREVIOUS TO THE 
REVOLUTION. 




"ERY soon after the Eng- 
lish first settled in South 
Carolina, it was ascertain- 
ed that this state was oc- 
cupied by about twenty 
different tribes of Indians. 
These Indians viewed the 
encroachments made on 
their territories by the 
whites with a jealous eye, 
but yet did not take any 
measures to resist them ; and the whites finally gained 
Possession of a great part of the territory. But in 
the end the Indians began to perceive that 'if matters 
went on in this way the English would soon expel them 
from their native forests ; and contests, therefore, soon 
broke out between the planters and parties of Indians 
in which many lives were lost. A price was at last 
hxed on every Indian taken prisoner and brought to 
Charleston, from whence they were sent to the West In- 
dies and sold as slaves. This measure mav appear to 
have been very inhuman; but the planters had no other 
means of getting rid of such troublesome enemies, and 
therefore necessity pleaded in its vindication. 

In the year 1680, a war broke out with the Westoes, 



INDIAN WARS IN CAROLINA. 



217 



-me of the most powerful tribes in the province: a peace 
was concluded in the subsequent year, and not much 
loss was sustained by either party. In the year 1702, 
Governor Moore marched into the country occupied 
by the Apalachian Indians, who, being instigated by the 
Spaniards, had commenced hostilities, took a great num- 
ber of them prisoners, and obliged the rest to submit to 
the English government. 

The next war with the Indians broke out in 1712. 
Several of the most powerful tribes of Indians, among 
whom were the Tuscaroras and Corees, united together, 
and formed a plot to murder or expel the English. Their 
plan was carried on with a profound secrecy. Their 
principal town was fortified, in order to afford protec- 
tion to their women and children ; and the warriors of 
the different tribes, to the number of twelve hundred, 
met here and matured their murderous design. At 
length, when they thought they had a fit opportunity 
they dispersed into small parties, and, entering the houses 
of the planters, demanded something to eat. They ap- 
peared to be displeased with the provisions that were 
set before them, and immediately began to murder the 
men, women, and children without distinction. In the 
neighbourhood of Roanoke one hundred and thirty- 
seven settlers were murdered. A few who had hid 
themselves in the woods, escaped and carried the ti- 
dings into the neighbouring settlements, thus preventing 
the total destruction of the colony. 

Active measure were instantly taken against the In- 
dians. The Assembly voted four thousand pounds to- 
wards the war. A body of six hundred men, under Colo- 
nel Barnwell, marched against the savages. They 
were joined by parties of Indians belonging to several 
tribes in the neighbourhood, so that the whole force con- 
sisted of upwards of a thousand men. The army had to 
march through a wilderness in which no provisions 
coi^d be procured, and it was reduced to great straits ; 
but, finally, came up with the enemy, and defeated them 
with great slaughter. In the first battle about three 
lundred of the Indians were killed and one hundred 
19 



218 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



taken prisoners. The Indians then retreated to the 
town, which they had fortified. Here they were sur- 
rounded, a large number were killed, and the rest were 
compelled to sue for peace. This was granted them. 
In this expedition, it was calculated that a thousand 
Tuscaroras were either killed, wounded, or taken pri- 
soners. The survivors abandoned their country, emi- 
grated to the north, and joined the Five Nations, thus 
making this confederacy consist of six tribes. 

In 1715, South Carolina was visited with an Indian 
war so formidable as to threaten its extirpation. The 
Yemassees were the chief instruments in promoting this 
conspiracy against the English. They had hitherto 
been on terms of great intimacy and friendship with the 
Carolinians. For about a year before the war broke 
out, it was observed that the Indians went frequently to 
St. Augustine, and returned loaded with presents. 

About a week before the commencement of hostili- 
ties, an Indian warrior attached to the family of one 
Fraser, a trader, told his wife that the English were all 
heretics, and would go to hell when they died, and that 
the Yemassees would go there, too, if they did not ex- 
pel the English ; that the governor of St. Augustine 
was their king, and that a bloody war would soon break 
out with the English ; he afterwards advised Fraser to 
fly, which he did, and escaped to Charleston with his 
family and effects. 

On the 15th of April, 1715, about day-break, the Eng- 
lish traders at Pocotaligo were alarmed by the cries of 
war. The Indians massacred above ninety persons in 
that place and the neighbouring plantations. A man 
who escaped fled to Port Royal and alarmed the town. \ 
The inhabitants went on board the shipping and sailed 
to Charleston. It was soon found that all the Indian 
tribes from Florida to Cape Fear river had joined in 
this conspiracy to massacre and extirpate the English. 
The planters from every quarter fled to Charleston. 
The governor proclaimed martial law, and laid an em- 
bargo on all ships, besides obtaining permission from 
the Assembly to impress men, arms, and ammunition 



YEMASSEE WAR. 



219 



into the service. Robert Daniel was appointed deputy- 
governor, whilst Governor Craven marched at the head 
of the militia against the largest body of savages. 

In the mean time, Thomas Barker, with a company 
of ninety horsemen, proceeded against the enemy. But, 
by the treachery of an Indian guide, he was led into 
an ambush of the enemy. Barker and several others 
were killed at the first fire, and the remainder retreat- 
ed. After this, a party of four hundred Indians ad- 
vanced to Goose-creek. At this place a small fort had 
been erected, containing seventy white men and forty 
negroes. On the approach of the Indians, the garrison 
became discouraged, and agreed to terms of peace; 
and having admitted the enemy within their works, the 
whole garrison was barbarously murdered. 

Governor Craven now advanced cautiously against 
the enemy. He was well acquainted with the Indian 
mode of fighting, and therefore took every precaution 
against a sudden surprise. He knew that the fate of 
South Carolina depended on the issue of the contest ; 
1 and his men had no alternative but to conquer or suffer 
a painful death. 

He marched forward without opposition till he ar- 
rived at Saltcatchers, where the enemy had pitched his 
camp. Here a severe contest took place. The In- 
dians, firing from behind trees and other places of con- 
cealment, killed a great number of the English. They 
w r ere several times compelled to retreat, but again re- 
turned to the charge with redoubled fury. The governor 
| finally succeeded in driving them from their coverts, 
and kept his troops at their heels till they had crossed 
Savannah river. 

This victory raised the inhabitants of South Carolina 
from the greatest despondency to the highest pitch of 
joy. The expedition not only disconcerted the greatest 
conspiracy ever formed against the colony, but also 
placed it in a state of greater security than it had 
hitherto enjoyed. 

The Yemassees, after their defeat, retreated to St. 
Augustine, w T here they were received with the firing of 



220 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

guns, the ringing of bells, and every other demonstration 
of welcome. They were furnished by the Spaniards with 
arms, and again began their depredations. Governor 
Craven, with a body of militia, meeting a party of these 
Indians near Stone Ferry, attacked and entirely defeat- 
ed them. This was the last general attempt of the 
Yemassees against the settlers of South Carolina. A 
few years after it became a royal province; and the 
wise and prudent measures of the governor, Sir Fran- 
cis Nicholson, contributed to restore harmony, so that 
for many years after the Yemassee war, the peace of 
the province was preserved without any considerable 
interruption. 

When the French had been defeated in the war 
which led to the conquest of Canada, and compelled to 
abandon Fort Duquesne, retreating down the Ohio and 
Mississippi, they had the address to involve the Indians 
in a serious war with Carolina. 

It was the Cherokees that the French, who had evacu- 
ated the fort and fled to their country, endeavoured to 
excite against the Carolinians. A quarrel occurred at 
this juncture which helped materially to fan the flame 
of dissatisfaction among them. The facts are as fol- 
lows : It had always been the custom for the Indians 
and English colonists to seize the horses that ran wild 
in the woods. It happened that a party of Cherokees, 
returning from Fort Duquesne, seized some stray horses, 
in order that they might reach home the sooner. But 
it appears that the animals belonged to the whites, 
who, instead of taking legal means for redress, pursued 
the Indians, and killed twelve or fourteen of them. 
The Cherokees were enraged when they heard of this. 
The young men proposed to fall upon the border towns, 
and notwithstanding the arguments of the elder chiefs, 
the Cherokees destroyed and massacred the inhabitants 
of several settlements on the Carolina frontier. 
m The garrison of Fort Loudon was attacked several 
times when on excursions for game ; so that it became 
necessary to keep within the fort. 

Information reaching Governor Lyttleton of these 



WAR WITH THE CHEROKEES, 



221 



hostile acts, he made every preparation to invade the 
Cherokee villages. The Indians no sooner heard of 
these preparations than they sent thirty-two chiefs to 
make a treaty with the governor ; but he refused to 
forego the war; and detaining the chiefs prisoners, 
he marched for Fort Prince George.* 

When he reached the Congaree he received additional 
troops, which augmented his force to fourteen hundred 
men. 

By this time their valour and ardour began to dimin- 
ish ; and when they arrived at Fort Prince George they 
became mutinous and ungovernable. Governor Lyttle- 
ton saw the necessity of a peace, and accordingly in- 
vited Attakullakulla, the wisest of the Cherokees, to a 
conference, and concluded a treaty ; but it w r as never 
regarded by the Indians ; for the treachery of detaining 
their chiefs was yet to be revenged. Occonostota, one 
of their chiefs, was the principal promoter of a w r ar, 
and, indeed, very few were loath to attack the border 
settlements and, if possible, rescue their imprisoned 
friends. The opportunity now offered w T as in every 
way advantageous. The Carolinians were rejoicing in 
the peace, and nothing could have been more unexpect- 
ed than hostility with the Cherokees at that moment. 



* After the success of the French at Fort Duquesne, in 1755, 
the Indians conceived a high opinion of their valour; and the 
\ Cherokees were disposed to enter into alliance with them. Their 
chief warrior gave notice of this intention to Governor Glen, of 
1 South Carolina, who had the prudence and address to engage 
\ them in a treaty which was concluded at a place in their own 
country, two hundred miles from Charleston. He also ohtained 
from them the cession of an immense tract of land, which occasioned 
the removal of the Indians to a greater distance from the English. 
Soon after this cession of lands, the governor built a fort about 
three hundred miles from Charleston, afterwards called Fort Prince 
George, which was situated on the banks of the Savannah river, 
and within gun-shot of an Indian town called Keovvee. It con- 
tained barracks for one hundred men, and was designed for the 
defence of the western frontiers of Carolina. The Cherokees 
could, at this time, bring about three thousand men into the field ; 
but were unprovided with arms or ammunition for their own de- 
fence. 

19* 



222 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



The war was commenced by the Indians cutting off 
the soldiers at Fort Prince George whenever a chance 
presented'itself. Fourteen were slain in this way, and 
it became necessary to keep the strictest guard. In fact, 
Fort Prince George was invested by Occonostota with 
his Cherokees. That chief at length became convinced 
that the place could not be taken but by stratagem. In 
order to effect this purpose he stationed his men in the 
thickets which surrounded the fort, and then dispatched 
a squaw to Captain Coytmore, inviting him to a confer- 
ence on the river bank. The captain went with two 
lieutenants. In the midst of the conference, the chief 
made a signal, and the Indians firing, killed the captain 
and wounded the two officers. They however reached 
the fort, and ordered the thirty-two hostages to be put 
in irons. While the soldiers were executing their orders 
the Indians stabbed one with a knife. The soldiers, ex- 
asperated to the greatest pitch, fell upon them and mas- 
sacred the whole. This act exasperated the Indians to 
frenzy, and preparations were made on both sides for a 
bloody struggle. Scarcely any one of the Cherokees 
but had a friend among the slaughtered chiefs. Revenge 
being the uppermost object with them now, they fell 
upon the border villages and committed the most un- 
paralleled cruelties. 

In this extremity a messenger was sent to Lord Am- 
herst for aid, who dispatched Colonel Montgomery with 
two regiments to South Carolina. ( 
Bull, w T ho succeeded Lyttleton, exerted himself stren- I 
uously to raise soldiers ; he put the forts into better or- 
der, and placed stronger garrisons in them. As soon 
as Montgomery reached Carolina, in April, 1760, the 
provincials joined him, and, in a short time, he was on 
his way for the Cherokee country. His first attempt 
was to surprise Estatoe. On his way thither he sur- 
prised a little village, and put every inhabitant to the 
sword. The Indians at Estatoe having, by this time, 
received notice of his approach, fled: and when the 
troops arrived, they found nothing but the emptv huts, 
which, with the flourishing crops around, were destroy- 



INDIANS CAPTURE FORT LOUDON. 



223 



ed. He then advanced to the lower towns, where sixty 
Indians were killed and forty taken prisoners. The 
troops next marched to the relief of Fort Prince George, 
which was closely invested by the Indians. The sav- 
ages being dispersed, Montgomery determined to rest 
his troops for a while. In the meantime offers of peace 
had been made to the Middle village of the Cherokees, 
but they had been rejected. 

Colonel Montgomery, therefore, found it necessary to 
go into the Cherokee country again. On his way to 
Etchoe, the nearest town, he was attacked, and a des- 
perate battle ensued. The Indians fought with the 
greatest bravery in the defence of their town ; but 
they were at length compelled to fly. The English had 
ninety-six killed and wounded. The victory rendered 
it useless to proceed, and the troops returned to Fort 
Prince George. 

The time allotted for the stay of Montgomery in Car- 
olina now expired, and he prepared to embark for New 
York with his two regiments, but at the solicitation of 
the governor he left Major Frederick Hamilton with 
four companies. 

In the meantime Fort Loudon had been compelled to 
surrender from the scarcity of provisions, and it re- 
ceived the most honourable terms from the Cherokees. 
But, as the garrison was on its march homeward, they 
were attacked by the Indians and nearly all cut to 
pieces. Encouraged at this success, the Indians were 
induced to attempt the capture of Fort Prince George. 

In the midst of their preparations they were told that 
one of their prisoners, Captain Stuart, had escaped, and 
knowing that he would apprise the people at the fort of 
their intention, they gave up the project. 

Stuart, the officer who escaped, informed Governor 
Bull of their design upon Fort Prince George, and advised 
him to provide for its defence. The governor strengthen- 
ed the garrison, and sent word to the Indians that if they 
attacked the fort they would be destroyed by the gun- 
powder that was buried around the w 7 alls. Presents 
were also sent to the Indians to induce them to release 



224 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES, 



their white prisoners. The Cherokees set them free, 
and in a short time the worn-out captives returned to 
their homes. 

The people, at length, thought that the Indians would 
come to terms, but they were sadly disappointed ; for, 
instigated by a Frenchman, they recommenced the war. 
Application was again made to Lord Amherst, who sent 
Lieuenant-Colonel Grant with a Highland regiment. 
Grant arrived at Charleston early in 1761, but was pre- 
vented from beginning operations on account of a sick- 
ness which broke out among the troops; but by the 
kind nursing of the Charleston people they nearly all 
recovered. A regiment of provincials having joined 
the Highlanders, the march commenced. The army, 
including Indian allies, amounted to two thousand six 
hundred. Every precaution was taken to guard against 
surprise. The march of Grant's army lay through the 
same valley where Montgomery had defeated the°Cher- 
okees the previous year. As he entered this pass, the 
Cherokees commenced an assault. A battle was thus 
begun which terminated in favour of the Carolinians, 
who, having sunk the dead in the river, proceeded to 
Etchoe, which place was reduced to ashes. After stay- 
ing a long while in the Cherokee country, Colonel Grant 
returned to Fort Prince George. 

A few days after his return to the fort, the Indians 
sued for peace, which was granted; and thus ended a 
war which destroyed entirely the French power in 
North America. 




CHAPTER XIV. 



CRESAP'S WAR. 



OGAN, the celebrated 
Mingo chief, was the son 
of Shikellima, chief of 
the Cayugas. He is said 
to have been named from 
Dr. James Logan, who 
was much beloved by 
his father. Logan bore a 
high character for mag- 
nanimity and the other 
qualities that distinguish 
a great man. He w T as not at all concerned in the wars 
of 1760; but in 1774 he was provoked to fierce hostility 
against the whites by a series of unprovoked aggres- 
sions. The Indians, it appears, had robbed some whites 
who contemplated a settlement on the Ohio river. The 
settlers immediately collected at Wheeling Creek, and 
one proposed to go after the Indians and kill them. 
Accordingly Captain Michael Cresap was sent with a 
party in pursuit of them, and two Indians were killed. 
Cresap the same day fell upon a party of unoffending 
Indians, and slew several of them. Among these were 
some of Logan's relations. 

Another murder of still more horrid character was 
committed soon after, by David Greathouse and one 
Tomlinson. Hearing that a party of Indians was en- 
camped on the banks of the Ohio, opposite to the place 
where they lived, about thirty miles above Wheeling, 
they collected a considerable body of men, and invited 

J (225) 




220 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

the Indians to come over the river and drink rum with 
them, and having succeeded in getting them intoxicated, 
they murdered all of the partv but one. Amon* the 
slam were a brother and sister of Logan. The re- 
maining Indians on the other side of the river, hearing 
the firing and coming to the relief of their friends, were 
fired U p 0n) and many of them m&± Tfae ^ retreate(L 

Ihis took place on the 24th of May, 1774. 

These aggressions of the writes led to an immediate 
war, which was prosecuted on the part of the Indians 
with their usual cruelty, which spared no age nor sex. 
Uy the exertions of the injured Logan, and the chiefs 
under his influence, the Shawanese, Mingoes, Dela- 
wares, Wyandots, and Cayugas, were united in hos- 
tilities against the Virginians. The celebrated chief. 

leaders am ° nS ^ m ° St cons P icuous of their 

. ?? tne 12th of J"!}', 1774, Logan, accompanied by 
eight warriors, made an unexpected attack upon some 
inhabitants upon the Muskingum, in which one man was 
killed and two captured, one of whom, Robinson, was 
saved from the torture by Logan, and adopted as his 
secretary. r 

The Virginia legislature being in session when the 
news ol the commencement of hostilities arrived, 
Governor Dunmore ordered a levy of three thousand 
men Half of these troops were to march to the mouth 
of the Great Kanhawa, under General Andrew Lewis; 
and the remainder, with the governor in person, were 
to proceed to a higher point on the Ohio, in order to 
attack the Indian settlements in the rear. He was then 
to form a junction with Lewis at Point Pleasant. Gene- 
ral Lewis, with a force of one thousand one hundred 
men, commenced his march from Camp Union through 
the wilderness, on the 11th of September, and arrived 
^omt Pleasant (one hundred and sixty miles) on the 
30th. .Here he waited until the 10th of October for 
the arrival of Governor Dunmore, who, it is now be- 

mJr n T mtend . t0 J° in him until the fi g«ting was 
cner. On the morning of the 10th a hunter, just es- 



BATTLE OF POINT PLEASANT. 



227 



caped from the Indian rifles, came into the camp and 
gave notice of the approach of an immense body of 
Indians. General Lewis immediately made arrange- 
ments for the battle, by ordering his brother, Colonel 
Charles Lewis, to march with his own regiment, and 
another under Colonel Fleming, to reconnoitre the ene- 
my, while he should prepare the main body to support 
them. At four hundred yards from the camp they were 
met by the enemy just after sunrise, and the battle com- 
menced, after the Indian manner, each party availing 
themselves of the trees for shelter and defence. Colo- 
nel Lewis was soon shot down, and the advanced regi- 
ments were on the retreat, when Colonel Field's regiment 
coming to their support, they rallied, and drove the In- 
dians behind a rough breastwork of logs and bush which 
they had erected, and w T hich being extended from river 
to river, so as to inclose the Virginians on the point, 
would have insured their utter destruction in case of a 
defeat. 

The ground was obstinately defended by the Indians 
till near the close of the day. Logan, Cornstalk, Red 
Eagle, and other distinguished chiefs led them on in 
successive charges upon the Virginians, until Colonels 
Field and Fleming having both fallen, and General Lewis 
finding his ranks fearfully thinned by each charge of the 
enemy, resolved to throw a body of troops into their rear. 
Captain Isaac Shelby, afterwards so celebrated, together 
with Captains Matthews and Stewart, being detached 
with three companies for this purpose, arrived at the 
desired point, and fell upon the rear of the Indians with 
such fury as immediately to decide the fortune of the 
day. Supposing that a reinforcement had arrived, the 
Indians instantly gave way, and, crossing the Ohio, re- 
treated to their towns on the Scioto. The loss of the 
Indians in this action could never be accurately deter- 
mined, in consequence of the usual practice of carrying 
off and concealing their dead. Thirty-three were found 
dead, and many were known to have been thrown into 
the river by the Indians themselves. The Virginians 
lost fifty-five killed and eighty-seven wounded. 



228 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The Indians now sued for peace. Logan haughtily 
declined to appear among the supplicants. He did not, 
however, refuse his assent to the treaty concluded by 
Cornstalk and the other chiefs; but, on giving it, he de- 
livered that remarkable speech which has rendered his 
name one of the most celebrated in the Indian annals. 
It is reported by Mr. Jefferson, in his Notes on Virginia, 
as we have given it in the Introduction to this work. 
Our artist, by a pardonable license, has represented the 
speech which was actually delivered to an emissary of 
b-overnor Dunmore, as having been delivered in his pre- 
sence. {See Engraving on the opposite page.) 

Logan did not long survive the events of the war in 
which he played so conspicuous a part. He was soon 
alter barbarously murdered as he was on his way home 
from Detroit. Cornstalk, his compatriot, was murdered 
with his son Elhnipnis, while on a friendlv mission to 
the fort at Point Pleasant in 1777. He had come thither 
to apprise the Americans of the intention of his tribe, 
the bhawanese, to join the British. He was detained 
there and visited by his son; and some whites having 
been fired upon, and one man killed by Indians in tht 
neighbourhood of the fort, Cornstalk and his son were 
both murdered in cold blood, by way of retaliation. 



CHAPTER XV, 



INDIAN WARS OF THE REVOLUTION, 



ANY circumstances tend- 
ed to change the aspects 
and relations of Indian 
warfare at the commence- 
ment of the Revolution- 
ary war. 

In the war which be- 
gan in 1755, between 
the French and English, 
great attention was paid 
by both parties to the dif- 
ferent tribes of Indians. The French succeeded in 
gaining the friendship of the greater number ; but the 
success of the English in the latter part of the war, 
turned the affections of the Indians in their favour. In 
the revolutionary war, the friendship of the Indians be- 
came a matter of much importance to both parties. 
And as terror was one of the expedients by which 
Great Britain endeavoured to reduce her colonies to 
submission, the greatest care was taken to gain the af- 
fections of the Indians, and to induce them to join the 
| British standard. In doing this the English had far 
greater advantages than the colonists. The expulsion 
of the French from Canada, which had taken place only 
about thirteen years before, had given the Indians a 
high opinion of the superiority and courage of the 
British troops. They also had the means of supplying 
the wants of the Indians, by articles which they received 
from England ; while congress, by the non-importation 




232 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



act, had debarred the colonists from importing those 
goods which were necessary for the Indian trade. 

Besides this, the English had another great advantage 
over the colonists. Since the peace of 1763, nearly all 
the transactions with the Indians had been carried on by 
agents appointed and paid by the king of Great Britain. 
These, as may well be supposed, used all their influence 
with the savages in favour of the mother country, and 
against the colonies. They insinuated into the minds of 
the Indians that the king was their natural ruler and 
protector ; and that, should the colonists succeed in the 
war in which they were then engaged, their next step 
would be the extirpation of their red neighbours. By 
such representations, as well as by a profusion of pre- 
sents, the Indians were nearly all pre-engaged in favour 
of the English. 

Meanwhile the Americans were not unmindful of 
their interests in this quarter. They appointed com- 
missioners to explain to the Indians the nature and 
cause of the quarrel ; and to gain their favour by means 
of treaties and presents. They endeavoured "to per- 
suade them that the war in no way concerned them ; 
and that they, therefore, should not take part with either 
side. Congress also resolved to distribute goods to the 
amount of nearly two thousand dollars among them; but 
this resolution was never executed. All the exertions of 
congress were insufficient for the security of the western 
frontiers. In almost every period of the war, the In- 
dians took part with the English against the Americans. 
South Carolina was one of the first states that felt the 
effects of the British influence over the minds of the 
Indians. The Creeks and Cherokees inhabited lands 
not far distant from the western settlements of this state. 
All intercourse with these tribes had, for several years 
prior to the beginning of the war, been carried on by 
John Stuart, an officer of the crown, who was very 
zealous in the British cause. A plan was formed by 
him to land a force of English soldiers in Florida, and 
in conjunction with the Tories and Indians, make an 
attack on the western settlements of the southern states; 



CHEROKEES SUBDUED. 



233 



whilst at the same time a British fleet and army should 
invade them on the coast This scheme was discover- 
ed by the capture of Moses Kirkland, one of the prin- 
cipal agents employed in its execution, whilst he was 
on his way with dispatches to General Gage. The in- 
formation thus received enabled the Americans to take 
such steps as in a degree frustrated the scheme ; yet so 
nearly had this plan succeeded, that the Cherokee In- 
dians began their massacres at the same time that a 
British fleet attacked the fort on Sullivan's island. But 
the defeat of the fleet, and the uninterrupted tranquillity 
w 7 hich succeeded the unsuccessful attempts of the Bri- 
tish, in 1776, enabled the Americans to carry the war 
into the territories of the Indians. This they did, not 
so much to punish the past, but to prevent them from 
committing similar outrages in future. 

A considerable force was at the same time sent by 
Virginia, North Carolina, and some of the other south- 
ern states, which traversed the Indian country, burnt 
their villages, and destroyed their crops. About five 
hundred of the Indians belonging to the Cherokee tribe 
were obliged, from a scarcity of provisions, to enter 
Florida, and seek protection from the British. Here 
they were fed and clothed for a considerable time ; but 
they finally sued for peace in the most submissive man- 
ner ; and soon after a treaty was made, by which they 
ceded a considerable portion of their land in South 
Carolina. This expedition so intimidated the Cherokees, 
that for several years they attempted no further hos- 
tilities. 

But the case of those Indians who dwelt near the 
British posts, and on the frontiers of the northern and 
middle states, was very different. The presents which 
they were continually receiving from the English, and 
the influence of a great number of tories who had taken 
refuge among them, so enlisted them in favour of the 
British government, that they were continually making 
hostile excursions against the Americans. Their prin- 
cipal leaders in these expeditions were Colonel John 
Butler, a Connecticut tory, and Brant, a half-blood In- 
20* 



234 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



dian, the principal chief of the Six Nations. The re- 
mote situation of the settlements, and the Indians 7 
knowledge of the country, enabled them to send out 
parties which did a great deal of mischief. 

Both Brant and Butler were employed in the famous 
expedition of Colonel St. Leger against Fort Schuvler 
or Stanwix. When Burgoyne was advancing upon 
Crown Point, in the invasion which terminated in 'his 
capture, he detached Colonel St. Leger with a body of 
light troops, Canadians, tories, and Indians, amounting 
to eight, hundred men, by the way of Lake Oswego and 
the Mohawk river, to make a diversion in that quarter, 
and to join him when he advanced to the Hudson. 

On the 2d of August, St. Leger approached Fort 
Schuyler, a log fortification, situated on rising ground 
near the source of the Mohawk river, and garrisoned 
by about six hundred continentals under the command 
of Colonel Gansevoort. Next day he invested the place 
with an army of sixteen or seventeen hundred men, 
nearly one-half of whom were Indians, and the rest 
British, Germans, Canadians, and tories. On being 
summoned to surrender, Gansevoort answered that he 
would defend the place to the last. 

On the approach of St. Leger to Fort Schuyler, gene- 
ral Herkimer, who commanded the militia of Tryon 
county, assembled about seven hundred of them and 
marched to the assistance of the garrison. On the fore- 
noon of the 6th of August, a messenger from Herkimer 
found means to enter the fort, and gave notice that he 
w T as only eight miles distant, and intended that day to 
force a passage into the fort and join the garrison. Gan- 
sevoort resolved to aid the attempt by a vigorous sally, 
and appointed Colonel Willet with upwards of two hun- 
dred men to that service. 

St. Leger received information of the approach of 
Herkimer, and placed a large body of regulars and In- 
dians in ambush on the road by which he was to ad- 
vance. Herkimer fell into the snare. The first notice 
which he received of the presence of an enemy was 
from a heavy discharge of musketry on his troops, which 



HERKIMER'S DEFEAT, 



235 



was instantly followed by the war-whoop of the Indians, 
who attacked the militia with their tomahawks. Though 
disconcerted by the suddenness of the attack, many of 
the militia behaved with spirit, and a scene of unutter- 
able confusion and carnage ensued. The royal troops 
and the militia became so closely crowded together that 
they had not room to use fire-arms, but pushed and 
pulled each other, and, using their daggers, fell pierced 
by mutual wounds. Some of the militia fled at the first 
onset, others made their escape afterwards ; about one 
hundred of them retreated to a rising ground, where 
they bravely defended themselves, till Sir John John- 
stone, who commanded the ambuscade, found it neces- 
sary to call off his men for the defence of their own 
camp. In the absence of the party against Herkimer, 
Colonel Willet made a successful sally, killed a number 
of the enemy, destroyed their provisions, carried off 
some spoil, and returned to the fort without the loss of 
a man. 

The loss of Herkimer's party was computed to amount 
to four hundred men: the general himself was among 
the slain. Many of the most active political characters 
in that part of the country were killed, wounded, or 
made prisoners ; so that St. Leger was secured from 
any further trouble from the militia. He now once more 
summoned the fort to surrender, but again met with a 
steady refusal. 

General Schuyler, deeming it a matter of importance 
to prevent the junction of St. Leger with General Bur- 
goyne, dispatched Arnold with a considerable body of 
regular troops to relieve Fort Schuyler. Arnold appre- 
hended an American of some wealth and influence, 
who, he believed, had been acting the part of a traitor, 
but promised to spare his life and fortune on condition 
of his going into the British camp before Fort Schuyler, 
and alarming the Indians and others by magnifying the 
force which was marching against them. This the per- 
son undertook and executed. Some Indians, who were 
friendly to the Americans, communicated similar inform- 
ation, and even spread a report of the total defeat of 



236 IXDIAX WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

General Burgoyne's arm v. founded, probably, on the cel- 
ebrated victory of General Stark at Bennington. 

Fort Schuyler was better constructed, and defended 
with more courage than St. Leger had expected : and 
his light artillery made little impression on it. His In- 
dians, who liked better to take scalps and plunder than 
to besiege fortresses, became very unmanageable. The 
loss which they had sustained in the encounters with 
Herkimer and Willet deeply affected them : they had 
expected to be witnesses of the triumphs of the British, 
and to share with them the plunder. Hard service and 
little reward caused bitter disappointment; and when 
they heard that a strong detachment of continentals was 
marching against them, they resolved to seek safety in 
flight. St. Leger employed every argument and artifice 
to detain them, but in vain: part of them went off, and 
all the rest threatened to follow if the siege were per- 
severed in. Therefore, on the 22d of August, St. Le- 
ger raised the siege, and retreated with circumstances 
indicating great alarm : the tents were left standing, the 
artillery was abandoned, and a great part of the bag- 
gage, ammunition, and provisions fell into the hands of 
the garrison, a detachment from which pursued the re- 
treating enemy. St, Leger retired to Montreal, whence 
he proceeded to Ticonderoga, with the intention of join- 
ing General Burgovne. 

General Arnold reached Fort Schuyler two days 
after the retreat of the besiegers; but, finding no 
occasion for his services, he soon returned to camp. 
The successful defence of Fort Schuyler powerfully 
co-operated with the defeat of the royal troops at 
Bennington in raising the spirits and invigorating the 
activity of the Americans. The loyalists became timid : 
the wavering began to doubt the success of the royal 
arms : and the great body of the people was convinced 
that nothing but steady exertion on their part was ne- 
cessary to ruin that army which a short time before had 
appeared irresistible. 

General Schuyler, who, notwithstanding all his meri- 
torious services, was no favourite with Congress, at this 



MURDER OF MISS MACREA. 



237 



critical period of the campaign, when by unwearied 
exertion he had brought the northern army into a re- 
spectable condition, and had the fair prospect of gain- 
ing the laurels due to his industry and talents, was su- 
perseded, and General Gates appointed to the command 
of the army. General Schuyler keenly felt the indig- 
nity offered him, by depriving him of the command at 
that critical juncture ; but he faithfully discharged his 
duty till the arrival in camp of his successor, on the 
19th of August. The late events had greatly changed 
the aspect of affairs ; and General Gates found the army 
in a far more promising state than he had expected. 
The harvest was over ; and many of the militia, who 
had been kept at home by it, were arriving in camp, 
where there was now a respectable force, much en- 
couraged by the recent success of the American arms. 

Soon after General Gates entered on the command 
of the northern army, an epistolary correspondence was 
opened between him and General Burgoyne, not of the 
most pleasant or courteous kind. On the 30th of Au- 
gust, the British general complained of the harsh treat- 
ment experienced by the loyalists who had been made 
prisoners at Bennington, and hinted at retaliation. On 
the 2d of September the American general answered 
his letter, and recriminated by expatiating on the hor- 
rid atrocities perpetrated by the Indians who accompa- 
nied the armies of General Burgoyne and Colonel St. 
Leger, and imputed them to General Burgoyne. One 
barbarous act committed by an Indian attached to Gene- 
ral Burgoyne's army, although it involved only a case 
of individual suffering, yet being described in the Amer- 
ican newspapers with every circumstance that could 
excite the imagination and inflame the feelings, made a 
deep impression on the public mind, and roused indig- 
nation to the highest pitch. 

Mr. Jones, an officer of the British army, had gained 
the affections of Miss Macrea, a lovely young lady of 
amiable character and spotless reputation, daughter of 
a gentleman attached to the royal cause, residing near 
Fort Edward ; and they had agreed to be married. In the 



238 



INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. 



course of service, the officer was removed to some dis- 
tanc ® fr° m his bride, and became anxious for her safety 
and desirous of her company. He engaged some In- 
dians, of two different tribes^ to bring hereto camp, and 
promised a keg of rum to the person who should deliver 
her safe to him. She dressed to meet her bridegroom, 
and accompanied her Indian conductors : but by the 
way, the two chiefs, each being desirous of receiving 
the promised reward, disputed which of them should 
deliver her to her lover. The dispute rose to a quar- 
rel; and, according to their usual method of disposing 
of a disputed prisoner, one of them instantly cleft the 
head of the lady with his tomahawk. (See Engraving 
on the opposite page.) This simple story, sufficiently tra- 
gical and affecting in itself, was blazoned in the Ameri- 
can newspapers with every amplification that could ex- 
cite the imagination or touch the heart ; and contributed 
m no slight degree to embitter the minds of the people 
against those who could degrade themselves by the aid 
of such allies. The impulse given to the public mind 
by such atrocities more than counterbalanced anv ad- 
vantages which the British derived from the assistance 
of the Indians. 

. & is unnecessary for us to dwell longer on the atro- 
cities perpetrated by the Indian allies of Burgovne. The 
result of his campaign belongs to the general history of 
the United States. We pass now to the dreadful nias- 
sacre at Wyoming, which took place in the following 
year, first noting an exploit of Brant. 

In the spring of 1778, General Lafayette being at 
Johnstown, was waited upon by Colonel Campbell and 
Mr. Wilson, who represented the exposed situation of 
Cherry Valley. Lafayette directed a fort to be built 
there, which was accordingly done, and the fort became 
a retreat for the surrounding settlers when danger threat- 
ened. It became an object with Brant to destroy this 
little fortress. He accordingly lav in ambush near the 
place with a party, but was deterred from his first in- 
tention of attack by mistaking a party of bovs, playing 
at soldiers, for a body of militia, He shot Lieutenant 



MASSACRE AT WYOMING. 



241 



Wormwood, however, and Captain Peter Site, who 
passed near the ambush with dispatches. 

Wyoming, a new and flourishing settlement on the 
eastern branch of the Susquehannah, w T as destroyed in 
July, 1778, by a party of Indians and tories. The ter- 
ritory in which this town was situated, was claimed 
by two states, Pennsylvania and Connecticut; and thus 
the security of the inhabitants was destroyed. From 
the collision of contradictory claims, founded on royal 
charters, the laws of neither were enforced. In this set- 
tlement, so remote from any others, w r here the laws were 
but feebly enforced, the tories were under less control, 
and could meet together without much danger of being 
discovered. Twenty-seven of them were, however, 
taken and sent to Hartford for trial ; but they w 7 ere af- 
terwards set at liberty. These, w T ith others of the same 
description, instigated by the desire of revenge against 
the Americans, from whom they had suffered banish- 
ment and loss of property, joined the Indians, and at- 
tacked the Wyoming settlement ; their combined forces 
were estimated at about eleven hundred, of whom two 
hundred were tories. The w T hole were commanded by 
Colonel John Butler, of whom w T e have already spoken. 
One of the forts, being very weak, surrendered to his 
party ; but a part of the garrison had previously retired 
to the fort at Kingston, called Forty-Fort. Colonel 
John Butler soon appeared and demanded the surrender 
of this place. Its commander, Colonel Zebulon Butler, 
a continental officer, sent him a message, proposing a 
conference at the bridge without the fort. This being 
agreed to, the commander and some other officers re- 
paired to the place appointed ; they were followed by 
nearly the whole garrison. Not finding any of the ene- 
my there, the Wyoming people advanced, supposing 
that the enemy were retiring before them. They pro- 
ceeded forward till they w r ere about three miles from 
the fort ; they then saw 7 a few r of the enemy, w r hom they 
fired at ; but they presently found that they had fallen 
into an ambuscade. They were now 7 attacked by the 
whole force of tories and Indians ; but fought gallantly 
21 



242 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



till their retreat to the fort was entirely cut off. They 
then fell into the greatest confusion. Out of four hun- 
dred and seventeen who had left the fort, three hundred 
and sixty were instantly slain. No quarter was given. 
Colonel John Butler again demanded the surrender of 
the fort. This was agreed under articles of capitula- 
tion, which secured to the people in the fort their effects. 
The garrison, consisting of thirty men with two hundred 
women, were allowed to cross the river and retreat 
through the words to Northampton county. During 
this retreat they suffered many hardships ; several wo- 
men were taken ill in the woods, and a scarcity of 
provisions prevailed among them. The houses and 
barns of the settlers were all burned; and their live- 
stock either killed or carried away. (See Engraving on 
the opposite page.) 

In the November following, a massacre of the same 
relentless character was perpetrated by Brant and his 
tory friends in Cherry Valley. With a force of seven 
hundred, of whom five hundred were his own warriors, 
Brant, accompanied by W alter Butler, son of Colonel 
John Butler, approached the fort on the 9th of Novem- 
ber, 1778. Colonel Ichabod Alden was in command at 
the fort ; and he had disregarded certain intimations of 
danger, and discouraged the inhabitants from taking 
shelter in the fort, offering to keep scouts out to give 
the alarm. His scouts built a fire and lay down to 
sleep. They were of course captured by Brant, and 
the surprise was complete. The place was invested in 
all parts at once, and the inhabitants were murdered 
with every circumstance of savage barbarity. Between 
thirty and forty prisoners were carried off. Colonel 
Alden paid for his carelessness with his life. The fort 
was vigorously assailed, but being defended by two hun- 
dred soldiers, escaped the fate of the village. 

Walter Butler, whose cruelty and callousness were 
conspicuous in this massacre, was captured in an affair at 
Johnstown in 1781. On his crying for quarter, an Onei- 
da Indian, in the American service, screamed out " Sher- 



(243) 



AMERICANS CAPTURE ST. VINCENNES. 



245 



ry Valley !" and, at the same moment, clove his skull 
with a tomahawk. 

A short time previous to this affair, Colonel Butler, 
with a party of Pennsylvania troops, proceeded on an 
expedition against the Indians. Having, on the 1st of 
October, 1778, reached the head of the Delaware, he 
marched down that river for two days, and then struck 
across the country to the Susquehannah. They burnt 
the Indian villages both in that quarter and the other 
settlements ; but the inhabitants escaped. Great diffi- 
culties were encountered by Colonel Butler's men in 
this expedition. Their provisions were carried on 
their backs, and, thus loaded, they were frequently 
obliged to wade through creeks and rivers. When their 
march was over, they were compelled to endure damp 
nights and heavy rains without having any thing to pro- 
tect them. Yet the expedition was successful, and in 
sixteen days returned. About a month after Butler's 
return, a large body of tories and Indians made an at- 
tack on Fort Alden in Cherry Valley, within the state 
of New York. The fort was not taken ; but the enemy 
succeeded in killing about forty persons, among whom 
were Colonel Arden and ten of his soldiers. 

An expedition, under Henry Hamilton, lieutenant- 
governor of Detroit, was entirely broken up through 
the bold and spirited conduct of Colonel Clarke. This 
expedition was intended to proceed against the back 
settlers of Virginia, and a great many Indians were en- 
gaged in it. But Hamilton, posting himself at St. Vin- 
cennes for the winter, that he might have every thing 
ready for invading the American settlements as soon as 
the season would permit, had weakened himself by send- 
ing parties of Indians against the frontier settlers. Clarke 
hearing of this determined to attack him. After sur- 
mounting a great many obstacles, he suddenly appeared 
before St.Vincennes with one hundred and thirty men. 

The inhabitants of the town immediately surrendered 
to the Americans, and assisted them in taking the fort, 
(February 23d, 1779.) The next day Hamilton and 
the garrison surrendered. Clarke, on hearing that a 
31* 



246 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



convoy of British goods was on its way from Detroit, 
detached a party of sixty men, which succeeded in 
making a prize of the whole. By this spirited attack, 
Coionel Hamilton's expedition w T as nipped in the bud. 

Clarke now transmitted some letters and papers to 
the council of Virginia, relating to Lieutenant Governor 
Hamilton, Philip de Jean, Justice of Peace for Detroit, 
and William Lamothe, captain of volunteers, whom he 
had made prisoners. This board reported that Hamil- 
ton had incited the Indians to take up arms against the 
United States, and given them rewards for the scalps 
they had taken : that de Jean was the willing instru- 
ment of Hamilton ; and that Lamothe was captain of 
a band of tories and Indians, whom he had ordered to 
spare neither women nor children. The board, there- 
fore, considered them as fit objects for retaliation, and 
advised the governor to put them in irons ; confine them 
in a dungeon of the public jail; debar them from the 
use of pen, ink, and paper ; and permit them to con- 
verse with no one except the keeper. 

On the 19th of April, Colonel Van Shaick, with a 
party of fifty-five men, destroyed the whole of the 
Onondaga settlements, consisting of about fifty houses, 
together with a large quantity of provisions. In this 
expedition twelve Indians were killed, and thirty-four 
taken prisoners ; while not a single man of the Amer- 
icans was lost. 

In all these contests the greatest cruelties were prac- 
tised by the Indians upon their prisoners. The American 
refugees who had fled to the west, took part with the 
savages, and by their knowledge of the settlements, and J 
their resources, did the Americans a great deal of harm. 
Some of them were even more barbarous than the In- 
dians themselves; they often assumed the dress of the 
savages: and, under the name of loyaltv, perpetrated 
cruelties that had heretofore been unheard of. 

In the expeditions that had been made against the 
Indians, a great many of them had been destroved ; yet 
those who remained were not intimidated, and 'still con- 
tinued their ravages. It was, therefore, resolved, in the 



SULLIVAN CHASTISES THE INDIANS. 247 

year 1779, to carry a decisive expedition into the Indian 
country. A considerable body of continental troops 
was selected for this purpose, and placed under the com- 
mand of General Sullivan. 

The Six Nations, or Mohawks, were the objects of 
this expedition. They had promised the Americans to 
remain neutral in the war. But overcome by the pre- 
sents and promises of the British agents, they all, with 
the exception of the Oneidas, took up arms against the 
United States. From their vicinity to the American 
settlements, and their knowledge of the country, they 
were enabled to do much harm. 

The Indians, on hearing of the expedition projected 
against them, immediately took measures to resist it. 
They posted themselves on an advantageous piece of 
ground, and fortified it in the best manner. On the 29th 
of August, General Sullivan appeared before their works, 
and immediately began the attack. The Indians resist- 
ed for about two hours, and then fled without making 
any attempt to rally. Their consternation was so great 
that they had no idea of making any further resistance ; 
and as General Sullivan advanced into the country, 
they retreated before him. The Americans were so 
irritated against them, that officers and men laboured 
equally in the destruction of their villages and corn- 
fields ; so that when the expedition w T as ended, there 
was scarcely a house left standing, or an Indian to be 
seen. The savages were thus taught that they could 
not commit their depredations with impunity ; and their 
ardour for making incursions into the American settle- 
ments was damped. 

Meanwhile several detached parties of Indians had 
succeeded in distressing different settlements in the 
United States. A party of Indians and tories, eighty- 
seven in number, under the command of Brant, at- 
tacked the Minnisink settlement, on the 23d of July ; and 
burnt several houses and barns. A party of one hun- 
dred and forty-nine militia pursued them, but they pro- 
ceeded with so little caution that they were surprised 
and defeated. About the same time an expedition was 



248 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES 



undertaken by General Williamson and Colonel Pickens, 
both of South Carolina, into the Indian country, August 
22d, 1779 ; they burnt the corn of eight towns ; and in- 
sisted on the Indians leaving the lands which they there 
occupied, and removing farther into the country. 

In the same month, Colonel Broadhead left Pittsburg 
with six hundred men, and proceeded against the Seneca 
and Mingo Indians ; he was gone more than a month, 
and destroyed several Indian huts, besides five hundred 
acres of corn. 

The state of New York continued to suffer from in- 
cursions of tories and Indians. They destroyed nearly 
the whole town of Canajoharie, about fifty-six miles 
from Albany. They also laid waste the country about 
the Mohawk river, and killed several persons. 

The Cherokees made an incursion into the district 
of Ninety-Six, in South Carolina, where they massa- 
cred several families, and burned a number of houses. 
In 1781, General Pickens, with about four hundred 
mounted men, proceeded into their country. In a 
fortnight he destroyed thirteen towns, and killed up- 
wards of forty Indians, besides taking several prison- 
ers. The vanquished Cherokees sued for peace, but it 
was not granted them till they promised to deliver to 
the Americans all persons who might instigate them to 
take up arms in favour of the British. • 

In the latter part of the war, in 1782, a party of 
civilized Indians, settled near the Muskingum, were 
barbarously massacred. They abhorred war, and ad- 
vised the other Indians to remain neutral. This so 
provoked the hostile Indians, that they carried them 
away from the Muskingum to Sandusky Creek. In the 
fall of the year, finding corn to be scarce, the civilized 
Indians obtained permission to visit their old habitations, 
and collect the crops they had planted before their re- 
moval. 

When the people near the Monongahela heard that a 
body of Indians were at the Moravian towns on the 
Muskingum, a party of one hundred and sixty men 
crossed the Ohio, and without inquiring who they were 



MASSACRE AT THE MORAVIAN VILLAGES. 249 



put ninety of them to death. These Indians submitted 
to their hard fate without attempting to destroy their 
murderers, who, calling themselves Christians, were 
more worthy the name of savages than the persons 
whom they had so barbarously murdered. 

Soon after this massacre, a party of Americans set 
. out to destroy the Indian towns near Sandusky ; but the 
Delawares and some other Indians opposed them. A 
battle ensued. The Indians were victorious ; several 
Americans were killed and some taken prisoners. 
Among the latter w-as Colonel Crawford. He w T as 
sacrificed to the manes of those Indians who had been 
murdered at the Moravian tow T ns ; and the rest were 
put to death w T ith the tomahawk. 

Throughout the w T hole of this w T ar, not only men 
were massacred, but women and children were often 
put to death in the most horrible manner. Whole 
settlements were involved in promiscuous desolation, 
i Each w T as made a scourge to the other ; and the un- 
■ avoidable calamities of war were rendered doubly dis- 
tressing by the dispersion of families, the breaking up 
of settlements, and an addition of savage cruelties, to 
the most extensive devastation of those things w 7 hich 
conduce to the comfort of human life. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



NORTH-WESTERN WAR. 

(DURING WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION.) 

EMOTE from the seats 
of commerce and civili- 
zation, the hardy pioneers 
of the western country, 
after the termination of 
the revolutionary strug- 
gle, had still a bloody 
^^^^t^^lS^^^^^^^ war to sustain with the 
Sf^HSP ^r^^^SS^^ savages in their neigh- 
SlHl|f bourhood - When peace 

si *§^Ki. i /^f5,^^5^^ was concluded with Great 

Britain, in 1783, many of 
the Indian tribes on the north-western frontier, who "had 
been in alliance with that power, refused to lay down 
the hatchet, and continued their merciless ravages on 
the border settlers. 

Between 1783 and 1790, according to estimates ap- 
parently correct, no less than one thousand five hundred 
men, women, and children, were killed or captured by 
the Indians upon the waters of the Ohio. More than 
two thousand horses were stolen from the inhabitants; 
an immense number of -jjtrms and plantations were 
desolated ; boats passing Mn the river were constantly 
plundered, and their crews murdered; and property to 
an unknown amount was /destroyed by the savage foe. 
Every effort which a hufnane policy could dictate had 
been made to restore peace by negotiation; but the 

(250) 




DEFEAT OF GENERAL HARMAR. 



251 



Indians were stimulated to these aggressions by the 
British agents, and supplied with arms and sheltered 
under the guns of the forts which Great Britain, in de- 
fiance of the stipulations of the treaty, still continued to 
hold within our territory ; and they scornfully refused to 
listen to any terms of conciliation. 

They still committed many ravages upon the western 
frontier, and the most horrible cruelties were perpetrat- 
ed by them on the inhabitants. It finally was found ne- 
cessary to reduce them by force of arms. An expedi- 
tion was accordingly sent out in 1791, for the purpose 
of destroying the Indian settlements on the Scioto and 
Wabash. This expedition consisted of fourteen hun- 
dred and fifty men, under the command of General Har- 
mar. Colonel Harden was dispatched by the com- 
mander with two hundred and ten militia and thirty 
regulars, for the purpose of bringing the Indians to ac- 
tion. His party was attacked by them about ten miles 
from Chillicothe, and, on the first fire, the militia fled. 
The regulars, however, maintained their ground ; but 
they were overpowered by numbers, and only seven of 
them made their escape, leaving the remaining twenty- 
three dead on the field. The ardour of the army was 
damped by this disaster ; but it marched forward and 
destroyed the towns on the Scioto. After this, Colonel 
Harden was again dispatched for the purpose of bring- 
ing the Indians to a general engagement ; he was again 
met and defeated with a great loss, (one hundred and 
fifty men and twelve officers.) The survivors retreated 
to the main army. 

The Indians, becoming emboldened by these successes, 
now committed greater ravages than before. The 
whole western frontier was in a state of alarm. Hardly 
a day passed without a report being heard of some one 
murdered or some village burnt ; and next year (1791) 
the government of the L T nited States determined to take 
some decisive measures. General Arthur St. Clair was 
accordingly appointed commander-in-chief of a large 
army, whose object was to destroy the Indian villages on 
the Miami, and to expel the savages from the country. 



252 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The army, consisting of about two thousand men, march- 
ed from Fort Washington (built on the site where Cincin- 
nati now is) on the 7th of September, and advanced to- 
wards the Indian settlements. When they approached 
near the enemy, a body of the militia deserted ; Major 
Hamtramck was detached to pursue them. The army 
was by this means reduced to fourteen hundred men ; 
they, however, proceeded on their march, and on the 
3d of November encamped on an elevated piece of 
ground about fifteen miles south of the Miami. The 
Indians shortly afterwards made an attack on the mili- 
tia, who fled into the camp and caused confusion among 
the regulars. The enemy now improved the advan- 
tage they had gained. Sheltering themselves behind 
the trees and beneath the thick underwood, they poured 
in a destructive fire upon the Americans, while they 
themselves were scarcely ever to be seen. 

General St. Clair was at this time suffering under a 
painful disease ; but he delivered his orders with a per- 
fect calmness and self-possession. Attempts were made 
to dislodge the enemy by the use of the bayonet, but 
without success. Meanwhile General Butler had been 
killed, and nearly all the artillery seized by the Indians. 
Another charge was made with the bayonet, and the 
artillery recovered. While the enemy were driven from 
one point, they poured a deadly fire upon the Americans 
from another. A great part of the army was now un- i 
able to continue the fight on account of their wounds, 
while a great many more had been killed. 

St. Clair now saw that nothing could be done but to ' 
endeavour to save the remnant of the army. A retreat ) 
was therefore ordered ; and the Indians pursued them 
for about four miles ; and then returned to the camp to j 
share the spoil. The vanquished troops fled to Fort 
Jefferson, left their wounded there, and then proceeded 
to Fort Washington. 

The loss in this battle was very great. Thirty-eight 
officers were killed on the field, and five hundred and 
ninety-three non-commissioned officers and privates 
were either slain or missing. The number of Indians 



WAYNE PROCEEDS AGAINST THE INDIANS. 253 

engaged is not exactly known. It is supposed that there 
were about fifteen hundred ; and their loss is believed 
to have been much less than that of the Americans. 
The leader of the Indians on this occasion, as well as 
in the defeat of General Harmar, was the Miami chief, 
Little Turtle, a very celebrated personage. 

_ The English are supposed to have instigated the In- 
dians to this engagement, and even to have led them on. 
But this matter has never been satisfactorily settled. 
The land for which the Indians fought had been the 
property of their forefathers for many preceding ages. 
Though they had ceded it to the United States, they 
still hankered after it, and finally determined to keep, 
at all hazards, the country where" the bones of their an- 
cestors were deposited, and where they drew their first 
breath. In the attempts to treat with "them, which fol- 
lowed this defeat of St. Clair's, they insisted on the Ohio 
river being considered the boundary of their territory ; 
i. e., they claimed the whole state of Ohio and all the 
country west of it, for themselves ostensibly, for the 
British really. Peace on such terms was out of the 
question. 

_ The Indian war had now a very serious aspect. A 
bill was introduced into the House of Representatives 
directing three additional regiments of infantry, and a 
squadron of cavalry to be raised for three years, if not 
sooner discharged. This bill, after a great" deal of dis- 
cussion,^ was finally passed. By it, the military force 
of the United States was fixed at five thousand men. 
Several months elapsed before these could be raised. 
General Wayne was appointed commander-in-chief in 
place of General St. Clair, who had resigned. While 
preparations were in progress for another campaign, 
measures were taken to end the war in a pacific manner. 
Two envoys were sent into the Indian territory with 
offers of peace ; but they were both murdered. It there- 
fore became necessary again to attempt their defeat by 
force of arms. 

General Wayne advanced as far as the ground on 
which St. Clair had been defeated, as it was too late in 
22 



254 INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. 

the season to prosecute the objects of the expedition. 
He erected a fort there, which he called Fort Recovery ; 
and spent the time in disciplining his troops. The In- 
dians, expecting an attack upon their villages, had col- 
lected in force, with a determination to fight in their de- 
fence. On the 8th of August, Wayne reached the con- 
fluence of the Au Glaize and the Miamis of the lake, 
without opposition. He here threw up some works of 
defence. The Indians had collected at the British post 
on the Miamis of the lakes, (a British post, let it be 
remembered, on American ground,) at about thirty 
miles distance, to the number of two thousand men. 
Wayne now made one more effort for the attainment 
of peace without bloodshed ; but was unsuccessful. He 
therefore cautiously proceeded down the Miami, and 
on the 20th of August a decisive engagement took 
place. The Indians were posted in a wood in front of 
the British works, which were inaccessible to the cav- 
alry. They were drawn up in their lines so near as to 
support each other. Wayne ordered the front of his 
army to advance with their bayonets and drive the ene- 
my from their hiding-places, and then to deliver their 
fire and press the fugitives so vigorously as not to allow 
them time to load. So rapid was the charge, and so 
entirely was the enemy broken by it, that in the course 
of one hour they were driven more than two miles 
through thick woods to within gunshot of the British 
fort. Little Turtle, who bore a conspicuous part in the 
fight, had opposed the other chiefs in council when they 
decided on giving battle. His opposition was silenced 
by another chief charging him with cowardice. The 
event showed his wisdom. 

General Wayne remained for three days in front of 
the field of battle, laying waste the houses and corn- 
fields of the Indians. He then returned to Au Glaize 
and destroyed the villages and corn within fifty miles 
of the river. General Wayne lost in the battle one hun- 
dred and seven men in killed and wounded. The loss 
of the Indians is unknown ; but they were driven out of 



EFFECTS OF WAYNE'S VICTORY. 



255 



their country, and forts erected in it to prevent their re- 
turn. 

This decisive victory may be considered as closing 
the wars of the Indians at that period in the United 
States. The other Indian nations, which had shown some 
symptoms of hostility, now became quiet and peace- 
able. The power of the United States, to restrain and 
punish their enemies, became known among the Indian 
tribes, and had a decided influence on their conduct. 

General Wayne soon after concluded treaties with 
the Indians on the north-west of the Ohio, by which 
peace was restored to the contending parties on terms 
satisfactory to both ; and the western frontier, no longer 
at open war with the Indians, was soon peopled by emi- 
grants from the eastern states, who came hither to seek 
their fortunes. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



TIPPECANOE WAR. 



ENTUCKY, Ohio, and 
the other western states, 
were by no means entire- 
ly exempted from the hor- 
rors of Indian warfare, 
by the effects of General 
Wayne's decisive victory. 
British Influence was still 
exerted to embroil the 
frontier settlers of the 
west with the natives ; 
and as the disputes respecting the orders in council, 
and the impressment of seamen, rendered the approach 
of war between Great Britain and the United States 
more probable, the outrages of the savages increased 
in frequency and boldness. But British influence was 
not the only exciting cause for Indian hostilities. There 
were two Indians, who appear to have emulated the 
fame of king Philip in their systematic and determined 
hostility to the United States. These were Tecumseh 
and his brother, the Prophet. The following account 
of these personages is extracted from Judge Hall's excel- 
lent work, the Memoir of the public services of William 
Henry Harrison. 

"In the year 1806, the celebrated impostor Ol-li-wa- 
chi-ca, the prophet, called by some writers, from what 
authority we know not, Els-kwa-taw-a, and his distin- 
guished brother Tecumthe, began to disturb the frontier 
of Indiana, by a series of intrigues which produced the 

(256) r 




TECUMSEH. 



257 



most calamitous results. Tecumthe had matured a plan, 
suggested to him, as is said, by the celebrated Red Jack- 
et, — a plan which the great Pontiac had attempted in 
vain, and which Little Turtle, another lofty spirit, w 7 as 
supposed to have favoured — to unite all the western 
tribes in a league against the white people, under the 
vain expectation that the combined Indian force would 
be sufficient to destroy all the western settlements, and 
drive the whites out of the great valley of the Missis- 
sippi. To effect this object, that crafty and daring war- 
rior traversed the whole frontier, visited the different 
tribes, appealed earnestly to their prejudices, stirred up 
the recollection of their wrongs, and exerted upon them 
the subtle diplomacy, and masterly eloquence, in both 
which he was so consummately skilled. 

The two brothers, who were born at the same birth, 
differed widely in character, but were well fitted to act 
together in the prosecution of such an enterprise. The 
Indian name of the prophet signified literally * a door 
opened? in allusion probably to the way of deliverance 
he was expected to point out to the red men ; while the 
interpretation of the word Tecumthe is, 'a panther 
crouching? 

Tecumthe was a daring and sagacious man — a shrewd 
and fluent orator, an able military chief, and a success- 
ful negotiator. He was full of enthusiasm, and fertile 
of expedient. He possessed an intuitive hatred towards 
the white men, against whom he had sworn eternal ven- 
geance, and with w T hom he held himself bound to ob- 
serve no measures of conciliation, until the purposes to 
w T hich he had devoted himself should be accomplished. 
Peculiarly gifted in that kind of tact which distinguishes 
the artful demagogue, he appealed successfully to the 
people — touched artfully upon topics which awakened 
the vanity, the hatred, or the love of plunder of the In- 
dian ; and though the chiefs held back from motives of 
policy, and the old men paused at the prospect of a war- 
fare which would cut off their annuities, and expose 
them to the vengeance of a powerful nation, the young- 
er warriors panted to follow him to the spoil of the 
22* 



258 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



white man. The daring and improvident, the indolent, 
the thoughtless, and the intemperate— all the loose ele- 
ments of society in the native villages — those who were 
careless of consequences, and to whom no change could 
be productive of injury — these were especially the 
minds to which Tecumthe addressed himself ; while to 
the more prudent class he used arguments which at 
least won their respect, and in some measure disarmed 
opposition. 

The Prophet possessed none of the manly qualities 
of Tecumthe. He had no name in war, and was an 
indifferent hunter. He was crafty, cruel, pusillanimous, 
and haughty. He was also lazy and sensual, and, un- 
der various pretexts, obtained a livelihood by extorting 
supplies of food and other necessaries from the Indians. 
A variety of accidental circumstances gave him an as- 
cendency over the Indians, which his own talents could 
not have earned — the condition of the frontier, the su- 
perstition of the savages, and the powerful protection 
of Tecumthe, who affected to treat his brother as a su- 
perior being. 

The superior mind of Tecumthe had obtained a com- 
plete mastery over that of the Prophet ; and when in 
council together, the latter never spoke. He was, how- 
ever, a better speaker than Tecumthe, and his manner 
is said to have been more graceful than that of any 
other Indian. Without the dignity of Tecumthe, he 
possessed more persuasion and plausibility. 

The project of governing the Indians through the 
medium of a person supposed to be in immediate com- 
munication with the Great Spirit, probably originated 
with Tecumthe, who found a suitable instrument in his 
cunning and unprincipled brother. The Shawanese, to 
which tribe they belonged, had long held the belief that 
they were the favourite tribe, in the estimation of the 
Great Spirit. In a speech made to Governor Harrison 
in 1803, an old man of that nation said that the Shaw- 
anese had once possessed all the knowledge in the world, 
but that having offended the Great Spirit, he had taken 
it from them and lent it to the white people, who would 



THE TIPPECANOE WAR. 



259 



soon be obliged to surrender it to the Shawanese. Act- 
ing upon this delusion, the Prophet commenced a series 
of incantations, and from time to time communicated 
the supposed results of his intercourse with the Great 
Spirit. He uttered the most extravagant prophecies, in 
reference to the speedy downfall of the whites, the re- 
storation of the Indians to all their former hunting- 
grounds, and the resumption of the customs of their an- 
cestors. To hasten this desirable end, the Indians were 
admonished to abstain from the use of all articles man- 
ufactured by the whites, and to cease their intercourse 
with that hated race. Tecumthe acted upon this plan. 
He seldom ate with a white man, and uniformly de- 
clined all articles of food which were peculiar to our 
tables, unless when necessity compelled him to eat them." 

The result of these intrigues was the famous Tippe- 
canoe war. 

In the autumn of the year 1811, a combination of 
Indians, instigated by Tecumthe and the Prophet, began 
a system of ravages upon the American territory, which 
made it necessary that the government should immedi- 
ately take measures for the protection of its citizens. 
For this purpose a small force of regulars and militia 
was assembled at Vincennes, and placed under the 
command of William Henry Harrison, governor of 
the Indian territory, with instructions to march im- 
mediately to the Prophet's town, and demand a resto- 
ration of the property carried off by his partisans. He 
was also authorized to obtain redress by coercive mea- 
| sures if necessary. 

Accordingly he marched into the enemy's country, 
and on the evening of the 5th of November encamped 
' within nine miles of the Prophet's town. The next 
i morning he resumed his march, but no Indians were 
j discovered till he had arrived within six miles of the 
\ town. The interpreters were then placed with the ad- 
vanced guard in order to open a communication with 
them if possible. But their efforts were vain. Parties 
of Indians were frequently seen, but they paid no atten- 
tion to the invitation of the Americans ; and all their 



260 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



attempts to open a communication and come to an un- 
derstanding with them were vain. When they came 
within two miles of the town, the path descended a steep 
hill, at the bottom of which was a small creek running 
through a narrow wet prairie ; and, beyond this, a level 
plain partially covered with oak timber, and without 
underbrush. This was a very good situation for the 
savages to make an attack upon the Americans, and 
Harrison, supposing he would be assailed, proceeded 
with the greatest caution. His march was, however, 
not interrupted, and he arrived safely before the town. 
He now sent Captain Dubois to the Prophet to treat for 
peace. But in a few moments he returned, and stated 
that the Indians were near in considerable numbers, but 
would make no answer to the interpreter, though they 
were near enough to hear what was said. 

Harrison resolved no longer to hesitate about treat- 
ing the Indians as enemies. He therefore ranged his 
troops in order of battle, and was marching against 
them, when he met with three Indians sent to him by 
the Prophet. An interview was held with them ; and, 
after some consideration, it w T as resolved that no hos- 
tilities should take place before next morning, when a 
conference should be held with the principal chiefs, and 
terms of peace agreed on. The army now proceeded 
to a creek north-west of the village, and bivouacked on 
a bank of dry oak land, considerably elevated, and situ- 
ated between two prairies. The infantry, in two co- 
lumns, occupied the front and rear, separated on the 
left, one hundred and eighty yards, and on the right, 
about half that distance. The left flank was covered 
by two companies of mounted riflemen, containing one 
hundred and fifty, rank and file, commanded by Major- 
General Wells of Kentucky; and the right flank by 
Spencer's troop of mounted riflemen, to the number of 
eighty. The front line was composed of one battalion 
of the fourth regiment of the United States' infantry, 
under the command of Major Floyd, flanked on the 
right by two companies of militia, and on the left by 
one. The rear line was formed of another battalion of 



BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE. 



261 



the fourth United States' infantry, under Colonel Baen, 
acting major, flanked by four companies of militia, un- 
der Lieutenant-Colonel Decker. Two troops of dra- 
goons, sixty strong, took post in the rear of the left 
flank ; and another, somewhat stronger, in the rear of 
the front line. To guard against a night attack, the or- 
der of encampment was appointed the order of battle ; 
and each man rested upon his arms. 

The order given to the army, in the event of a night 
attack, was for each corps to maintain its ground at all 
hazards till relieved. The dragoons were directed in 
such case to parade dismounted, with their swords on 
and their pistols in their belts, and to wait for orders. 
The guard for the night consisted of two captains' com- 
mands of twenty-four men and four non-commissioned 
officers ; and two subalterns' guards of twenty men and 
non-commissioned officers — the whole under the com- 
mand of a field officer of the day. 

Just before reveille, on the morning of the 7th of Novem- 
ber, 1811, an attack commenced on the left flank, and the 
piquets were driven in. The first notice of the enemy's 
approach was the usual yell of the savages, within a short 
distance of the line. They had violated the armistice 
agreed upon, to subsist until the ensuing day ; which, it 
would seem, they had proposed with a view to gain an 
opportunity of surprising their adversaries in their usual 
manner. Nothing but the precaution of encamping in 
order of battle, and the deliberate firmness of the officers 
in counteracting the effects of a surprise, saved the army 
from total defeat. The storm first fell upon Captain 
Barton's regulars and Captain Geiger's mounted rifle- 
men, forming the left angle on the rear line. Some In- 
dians forced themselves through the line and penetrated 
into the encampment, where they w r ere killed. The 
companies, thus suddenly and severely attacked, were 
reinforced with all possible speed. A heavy fire then 
opened, to the left of the front, immediately on the reg- 
ular companies of Captains Baen, Snelling, and Pres- 
cot. A gallant charge by the cavalry, from the rear 
of the front line, under Major Davids, w 7 as ordered for 



262 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



the purpose of breaking the Indians, who appeared in 
great force among some trees a few yards distant in 
front. The major received a mortal wound, and his 
men were driven back by superior numbers of the ene- 
my. Captain Snelling's company then charged with 
fixed bayonets, and the enemy were dislodged. The 
enemy's fire now extended along the left flank, the whole 
of the front, the right flank, and part of the rear line. 
Upon Spencer's mounted riflemen, and the right of War- 
wick's company, it was excessively heavy. Captain 
Spencer and his first and second lieutenants were kill- 
ed ; and Captain Warwick fell, mortally wounded. The 
troops, notwithstanding the fall of their officers, bravely 
maintained their posts until reinforced. Day approach- 
ed, when Major Wells, reconnoitring the position of the 
enemy on the left, charged and broke them. At this 
favouring moment, a small detachment from the caval- 
ry dashed furiously upon the retreating Indians, and 
precipitated them into the marsh. (See Engraving on 
the opposite page.) Simultaneously with these success- 
ful efforts on the left, the enemy were charged on the 
right by the companies of Captain Cook and Lieutenant 
Larabie, supported by the mounted riflemen, who pur- 
sued and killed a number of Indians in their flight. 
Driven now at all points, and pursued as far as the 
ground would admit, the Indians dispersed in every di- 
rection. They were handled so severely in the retreat, 
that they were compelled to abandon many of their 
killed and wounded on the field, which is, with them, 
evidence of positive defeat. Forty Indians were found 
dead on the field. Numbers were carried off, some of 
whom were discovered the next day, in holes containing 
two, three, and four bodies, covered, to conceal them from 
the victorious army. The general estimated their loss, 
in killed and wounded, at one hundred and fifty. Such 
was the famous battle of Tippecanoe. Tecumseh was 
not engaged in this battle, being absent from that region 
on an excursion in the south. 

During the time of the contest, the Prophet kept him- 
self secure on an adjacent eminence, singing a war- 



(263) 



DEATH OF MAJOR DAVIES. 



265 



song. He had told his followers that the Great Spirit 
would render the army of the Americans unsuccessful, 
and that their bullets would not hurt the Indians, who 
would have light, while the enemies would be involved 
in thick darkness. Soon after the battle commenced, 
he was informed that his men were falling. He told 
them to fight, it would soon be as he predicted, and then 
began to sing louder. 

The troops throughout displayed the greatest bravery, 
and effectually resisted one of the most furious assaults 
ever experienced in savage warfare. They were saved 
only by their soldierly conduct. Had a panic, in the first 
onset of the savages, produced disorder, they would pro- 
bably, to a man, have become the victims of the most 
merciless of foes. Their loss was severe, both in offi- 
cers and men, viz., one aid-de-camp, one captain, two 
subalterns, one serjeant, two corporals, and thirty pri- 
vates killed ; two lieutenant-colonels, one adjutant, one 
assistant surgeon, two captains, three subalterns, nine 
Serjeants, five corporals, one musician, and one hundred 
and two privates wounded ; besides one major, two cap- 
tains mortally. 

Major Davies fell early in the action, greatly lament- 
ed by all his associates. He held the first standing in 
Kentucky, as a lawyer and an orator. In the field he 
was brave to desperation, and in his death a hero. The 
legislature of Kentucky, in testimony of their regret for 
the loss of Davies, Owens, and other volunteers, who 
were slain in this engagement, resolved to wear mourn- 
ing for thirty days ; and appointed John Rowan, Esq., 
to deliver, in the capitol, a funeral oration, in honour of 
the deceased. 

Governor Harrison, on the 9th of November, having 
burned the town, and laid waste the surrounding settle- 
ment, from which he obliged the defeated enemy to fly, 
returned with his forces into the settled country. The 
Prophet was immediately abandoned by his followers, 
who, on his defeat, lost all faith in his supernatural pre- 
tensions. Even his life was endangered by the sudden 
change in the feelings of those whom he had too suc- 
23 



266 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

cessfully deluded. Most of the Indian tribes who had 
been influenced by his impious pretensions, after his ex- 
pulsion from his imagined sanctuary, offered their sub- 
mission, and sued for peace. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



NORTH-WESTERN WAR. 

(1812 and 1813.) 

HE calm that succeeded 
the battle of Tippecanoe 
was but of short duration. 
The Indians were not con- 
ciliated; they had been 
overpowered ; and they 
still bore an unquenchable 
hatred to the people of 
the United States. When 
war was declared, June 
18th, 1812, against Great 
Britain, they again broke out, devastated the whole of 
the western frontier, and committed the most horrible 
cruelties and murders ; so that in a short time many of 
the inhabitants deserted their homes, and sought safety 
in flight. ° J 

After the capture of Hull, the frontier was still more 
exposed than formerly to the ravages of the Indians. 
General Harrison, who had been appointed major-gen- 
eral in the Kentucky militia, in compliance with the 
unanimous desire of his fellow-citizens in the western 
country, hearing that Fort Wayne was invested by a 




INDIAN OUTRAGES. 



267 



large body of the savages, hastened to its relief. But 
when he had approached within a short distance of the 
fort, the enemy retreated ; and he thus had the honour 
of relieving that place without the shedding of blood. 
Shortly after this event General Winchester was ap- 
pointed commander of the army instead of Harrison ; 
this appointment occasioned much uneasiness among 
the troops ; and it required all Harrison's influence to 
reconcile the army to the change. 

Winchester, however, enjoyed the command but a 
short time. When the president heard that it was the 
wish of nearly all the inhabitants of the western states 
that Harrison should be commander-in-chief of the 
army, lie appointed him to that situation, and intrusted 
him with powers and responsibilities the most weighty 
and delicate. No other person, except Washington and 
Greene, had ever been entrusted with such absolute 
authority as he now exercised. 

On the 3d of September, a body of Kickapoo and 
Winnebago Indians assembled at Fort Harrison, on 
the Wabash, and endeavoured by treacherous pretences 
of friendship to gain admission. The commander, Cap- 
tain Jeremy Taylor, was not, however, deceived by 
them, but kept his garrison ready to defend the post ; 
and on the next day the Indians made an assault ; but 
were gallantly repulsed. 

Irritated at this defeat, a large party of them broke 
Into the settlements on the Pigeon Roost Fork of White 
River, where they massacred, in the most horrible man- 
ner, twenty-one persons, including women and children. 
Shortly after, an escort of thirteen men, bearing pro- 
visions, was also surprised, and the whole of the party 
murdered. 

Similar atrocities having been committed in the Illi- 
nois and Missouri territories, Governor Edwards of 
Illinois made appeals to the general government, as 
well as to the governors of the neighbouring states, for 
assistance. 

Governor Shelby, whose zealous patriotism has ren- 
dered his name so conspicuous in the annals of this 



268 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

war, made an eloquent appeal to the people of Ken- 
tucky, calling on them for assistance. This appeal was 
not without effect, for two thousand men were imme- 
diately assembled at Louisville, and other points on the 
Ohio— while so great was the excess of numbers that 
many were turned back; and one veteran belonging 
to a company whose services were not accepted, 
after venting his disappointment, was heard to remark, 
"Well, well, Kentucky has often glutted the market 
with hemp, flour, and tobacco ; and now she has done 
it with volunteers." 

On the 1st of October the army was assembled at 
Vincennes, where it was organized, and the command 
assumed by General Samuel Hopkins, of the Kentucky 
militia. They now crossed the Wabash, and proceeded 
in the direction of the Kickapoo villages, on the Illinois 
river. But being deceived by their guides, they wan- 
dered about for several days without advancing far 
towards the point of destination. The want of pro- 
visions was soon felt, and both horses and men were 
sinking with fatigue. Under these circumstances it 
was determined to return. The expedition was con- 
sidered to have failed in its principal object, and severe 
reflections were cast upon the commander. But a court 
of inquiry being afterwards held, they decided that his 
conduct merited applause, rather than censure. 

After dismissing the mounted men, General Hopkins 
led a body of infantry against the Indians on the Wa- 
bash. The march was commenced on the 11th of No- 
vember, and conducted with the greatest caution. On 
the 19th they arrived at the Prophet's Town, which was 
destroyed, as were a Winnebago village, a few miles 
lower down, and a Kickapoo village, on the western 
side of the river. Operations were continued until the 
24th, when the weather becoming extremely cold, and 
the troops being destitute of the necessary clothing, they 
returned home. J 
Meanwhile a successful expedition had been carried 
on by Governor Edwards and Colonel Russell against 
the Kickapoos. Their principal village, at the head of 



BATTLE OF FRENCHTOWN. 



269 



Peoria Lake, was surprised, a large number of warriors 
killed, their corn destroyed, and about eighty horses 
captured. 

Information having been received that Colonel Elliot 
was advancing from Maiden towards the river Raisin, 
with a body of English and Indians, to attack the camp 
at the Rapids, Colonel Lewis, who was stationed at 
Presque Isle, pushed forward for Frenchtown, a village 
midway between Presque Isle and Maiden, and distant 
from each eighteen miles. After a laborious march 
they arrived at this place, where they found the enemy 
ready to receive them. It was, however, determined 
to attack them ; accordingly an assault was made, and 
the enemy were finally forced to give way. The Brit- 
ish were commanded by Major Reynolds, and they lost 
about a hundred in killed and wounded. 

Lewis determined to maintain his position at French- 
town, and General Wincester, on receiving intelligence 
of the victory, approved the decision of Lewis, hasten- 
ed to support him with all his troops, and on the 21st 
of January established his head-quarters at Frenchtown, 
which he determined to fortify the next day. Colonel 
Wells was sent to the Rapids, where he met General 
Harrison, who had arrived there the day before, and 
was making every effort to hasten forward the rein- 
forcements. 

The advices sent by Winchester to Harrison had all 
been delayed by accidents incident to the wilderness 
and the season ; and he was now endeavouring to sup- 
port movements which he could not have foreseen, and 
of which he was recently and unexpectedly apprized. 
This, with his feeble and scattered means, in the depth 
of a northern winter, and in the impracticable state of 
that wilderness region, was a hopeless undertaking ; but 
unpromising as it was, it was attempted with zeal and 
earnestness; and on the 20th he dispatched Captain 
Hart with instructions to Winchester to maintain the 
position at the river Raisin. 

As soon as the British at Maiden heard of the ad- 
vance of the Americans on Frenchtown, they deter- 
23* 



270 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



mined to attack them. Accordingly, on the morning 
of the 22d, they commenced the assault, by opening a 
heavy battery at the distance of three hundred yards 
from the American camp. The enemy had approached 
in the night in profound silence. The Americans were 
outnumbered, and only a part of them were protected 
by temporary breastworks, The assailants rushed for- 
ward to the charge, with the bayonet and the toma- 
hawk, amid the loud yells of the savage. From the 
camp of Lewis, which was surrounded with pickets, 
they were repulsed ; but the reinforcement which had 
arrived under Winchester, and was unprotected by any 
work, was overpowered, and forced to give way. 
General Winchester hastened to the scene of action, 
and endeavoured, ineffectually, to rally the broken lines! 
But the British pressed upon the disordered troops: the 
Indians gained their right flank, and the men began to 
retreat in confusion across the river. Lewis and Allen 
gallantly endeavoured to regain the ground that had 
been lost, but in vain : the Indians had now gained the 
other flank, and were in possession of the woods in the 
rear. Confusion increased ; a large party of our troops 
which had reached the woods were surrounded and 
massacred without distinction and without mercy. Near- 
ly one hundred were tomahawked at one spot/ Every 
fugitive was slaughtered. The brave Allen, after being 
badly wounded, and retreating two miles, surrendered 
to an Indian; another savage assailed him, and Allen, 
with a blow of his sword, struck the assassin dead, and 
was himself shot down by a third Indian. 

Lieutenant Garrett having surrendered himself, with 
a party of fifteen or twenty men, all but himself were 
instantly butchered. Another party of thirty men had 
retreated three miles, when they were surrounded, and 
compelled to surrender : half of them were murdered. 
Winchester and Lewis were captured, and their coats 
stripped off: in this condition they were taken to Colo- 
nel Proctor's head-quarters. 

The troops within the picketing, under Graves and 
Madison, still maintained that position with Spartan 



MASSACRE AT THE RIVER RAISIN, 



271 



valour. Major Graves, when severely wounded, sat 
down, exclaiming, " Never mind me — -fight on." Proc- 
tor, at length wearied with the ineffectual sacrifice of 
his men, withdrew his mercenary troops and savage 
allies from the vain attempt to dislodge this little band 
of heroes. 

But Proctor at length procured by an act of inde- 
scribable baseness, what he could not effect by valour. 
He told General Winchester that unless the remainder 
of his troops should surrender, the whole of the prison- 
ers would be massacred. Shocked as he must have 
been at such a violation of the laws of war, he had 
seen enough to know that he was in the hands of a 
monster, who only wished for some pretext to steep his 
hands still more < deeply in blood. A flag was sent by 
him, therefore, with an order to Major Madison to sur- 
render, borne by Major Overton, the aid of Winchester, 
and accompanied by Proctor. The latter insolently 
demanded an immediate surrender ; threatening, in case 
of refusal, to deliver over the whole garrison to the 
vengeance of the Indians. Major Madison observed, 
" That it had been customary for the Indians to massa- 
cre the wounded and prisoners, and that he would not 
agree to any capitulation which General Winchester 
might direct, unless the safety and protection of his 
men were stipulated." Colonel Proctor said, " Sir, do 
you mean to dictate to me ?" "No," replied the gallant 
Madison, " I intend to dictate for myself, and we prefer 
selling our lives as dearly as possible, rather than to be 
massacred in cold blood." Proctor then received the 
surrender, on the conditions that private property should 
be respected, that the prisoners should be protected by 
a guard, the sick and wounded removed on sleds, and 
the officers allowed to retain their side-arms. 

We forbear to shock our readers by recounting in 
detail the atrocities that ensued ; — atrocities which have 
covered the name of Proctor with eternal infamy. 
The prisoners thus taken were given over to the In- 
dians to be slain in cold blood. A few were saved by 
the interposition of some of the officers. Graves, Hart, 



272 INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. 

Hickman, and other gallant officers, with their brave 
companions, were coldly delivered up, by British of- 
facers, to the infuriated Indians, and butchered in their 
presence Some of their bodies were thrown into the 
flames of the burning village, and others, shockingly 
mangled, left exposed in the streets. Major Woolfolk, 
the secretary of Winchester, was shot some days after 
ins capture, and Major Graves murdered at some later 
period, which has never been ascertained. For several 
days this horrid tragedy continued to be acted; and 
every prisoner who became exhausted in the march 
towards Maiden, was handed over to the savages. (See 
Engraving on the opposite page.) 

For the massacre at the river Raisin, for which any 
other civilized government would have dismissed, and 
perhaps have gibbeted, the commander, Colonel Proctor 
received^ the rank of major-general in the British army' 
too far from disgracing the perpetrator of such atro- 
cities, the government rewarded him ; and the com- 
mander of the forces in Upper Canada, in a general 
order distinguished for its falsehood and malignity, 
boasted of this « brilliant action," and of the "gallantry " 
of Proctor, which he declared to have been " noblv dis- 
played !" J 

In the latter part of April, the British, accompanied 
by their usual allies, the Indians, proceeded against 
fort Meigs. On the morning of the 1st of May? they 
had completed their batteries, and had every thing ready 
for opening their fire upon the Americans. But while 
the British had been employed in erecting batteries, the 
Americans had constructed a grand traverse, running 
entirely across the camp. When the British were about 
to fire, orders were given for the tents in front of this 
work to be struck ; and in a few minutes they all dis- 
appeared, and not a person was visible from the British 
lines. They, however, opened their batteries, but with- 
out doing much harm. 

General Clay was still on his way to join Harrison. 
He being informed that Clay would reach the camp at 
dawn on the ensuing morning, determined to make a 



(273) 



SORTIE FROM FORT MEIGS. 



275 



sortie upon the enemy; he, therefore, sent orders for 
Clay to land with eight hundred men at a point to be 
shown hy Captain Hamilton, a mile and a half above 
Camp Meigs. Hamilton w 7 as to conduct the detach- 
ment to the British batteries, on the left bank of the 
river. These were to be taken, the cannon spiked, and 
the carriages cut down ; the troops were then to em- 
bark in the boats, and cross to the fort. The remainder 
were to land on the other bank, and cut their way 
through the Indians into the fort. 

Colonel Dudley proceeded to lead the detachment 
against the enemy's batteries ; while General Clay fol- 
lowed with the remainder of his men. In attempting 
to land, the boats of Clay became separated by the 
violence of the current, and were landed at different 
points. Captain Peter Dudley marched into the camp 
without loss, under a heavy fire of the enemy. Colonel 
Boswell, with the rear boats, deceived by a movement 
of those in advance, was about to land on the wrong 
side, when he was instructed to cross over, and fight 
his way into the camp. When he had landed, the party 
was put in great danger by the Indians ; but they fought 
their way through them, and arrived safely at the fort. 

General Harrison now ordered a sortie from the fort, 
under the command of Colonel John Miller. He, ac- 
companied by Major Todd, charged the British, and 
drove them from their batteries — spiked their cannon, 
and took forty-one prisoners, including an officer, hav- 
ing completely beaten and driven back the enemy. The 
British force consisted of two hundred regulars, one 
hundred and fifty Canadians, and five hundred Indians, 
being more than double the number of the brave de- 
tachment that had attacked them. 

Meanwhile Colonel Dudley had effected a landing on 
the opposite side of the river, and marched rapidly 
towards the enemy's batteries. He succeeded com- 
pletely in the objects of the expedition ; the batteries 
were carried without the loss of a single man. But 
instead of returning immediately to the fort, they loiter- 
ed about the batteries with the most perfect indifference 



276 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

to any approaching danger. They were now attacked 
by a party of Indians ; these they defeated and pur- 
sued for two miles. The left column, under Major 
Shelby, which remained in possession of the batteries, 
was now charged by the enemy, who had rallied : 
some were made prisoners, and others driven to the 
boats. Shelby rallied the remainder and hastened to 
the assistance of Dudley. A retreat was now at- 
tempted, but in the utmost disorder. A greater part of 
the men were captured by the Indians, or surrendered 
to the English. 

The British and Indians now perpetrated their usual 
atrocities. The gallant Dudley, with several of his 
companions, were tomahawked. The prisoners were 
taken to Fort Miami, and the Indians there stationed 
themselves on the ramparts, and fired upon them. 
Others, still more cruel, selected a victim, led him out, 
and in the very presence of Proctor and his officers, 
tomahawked him. This horrid work continued till the 
arrival of Tecumseh, who put a stop to the carnage. 
. Soon after, Proctor sent a forma] summons to Har- 
rison to surrender ; but he replied that he considered 
such a message as an insult. Proctor, finding that he 
could not take the fort, raised the siege and decamped. 

On the morning of the 31st of July, a body of 
English and Indians arrived before Fort Stephenson, 
which was commanded by Major Croghan. The gar- 
rison were then summoned to surrender, and in case of 
refusal, were threatened with instant death at the hands 
of the Indians. Major Croghan answered, " that when 
the fort should be taken, there would be none left to 
massacre; as it would not be given up while a man 
was able to fight." 

The British began their firing early in the morning, 
and continued it throughout the day. In the evening, 
an assault was made by the whole force of the enemy, 
in two columns, one led by Colonel Short, the other by 
Colonel Warburton and Major Chambers. They rushed 
forward with great bravery; but they were thrown 
into confusion by a destructive fire of musketry, kept ' 



SIEGE OF FORT MEIGS. 



up by Captain Hunter. The loss of the Americans 
was one killed and seven wounded ; whilst that of the 
British was about one hundred and fifty in killed and 
wounded. 

When the fighting had ceased, Major Croghan sent 
out provisions and water to the wounded of the British, 
who were lying in a deplorable condition, in the ditch 
around the fort ; and those who were able to creep to 
the fort were kindly received. 

The next morning, at three o'clock, the whole British 
and Indian force commenced a disorderly retreat. 

A few days before this event, Fort Meigs was in- 
vested by fifteen hundred British regulars and Cana- 
dians, and by five thousand Indian warriors led on by 
Tecumseh and Dickson. A large portion of the latter 
were Winnebagoes, and others of the fiercest of the 
Indian tribes, from the shores of the upper lakes ; who 
were brought for the first time against the army of 
Harrison, by a promise that the fort should be stormed, 
and the prisoners and booty delivered over to them, to 
be dealt with according to their pleasure. 

Harrison received information of these facts by Cap- 
tain M'Cune ; he having received his advices, had just 
returned to the fort, when a subtle stratagem was made 
use of to draw the Americans from the fort. A sham 
fight was acted in sight of the garrison; the Indians 
attacked a body of Canadians, who at first broke, but 
afterwards rallied again, when the Indians gave back. 
It was expected that the garrison would mistake the 
Canadians for the army of Harrison, and rush out to 
their relief. But the advices brought by Captain M'Cune 
revented this mistake. Had the troops rushed out as 
ad been anticipated, they would all, without doubt, 
have been instantly massacred, and the fort taken pos- 
session of by the Indians and British troops. A short 
time after, dissensions broke out among the English and 
their allies, and the siege w T as raised. 

The victory of Commodore Perry having opened to 
the Americans the navigation of Lake Erie, General 
Harrison now determined to cross over into Canada 
24 



27S 



IXDIAX WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. 



and bring Proctor to an engagement. This latter gene- 
ral retreated before him. but, after a severe pursuit, 
was overtaken on the 5th of October. Proctor's army 
was posted on the river Thames ; his left was flanked 
by that river, and his right by a swamp. Beyond the 
latter, and between it and another swamp still farther 
on the right, were the Indians under Tecumseh. Proc- 
tor had formed his men in open order, that is, with in- 
tervals of three or four feet between the files. Har- 
rison, on perceiving this, ordered Colonel Johnson, with 
the mounted men. to dash through the enemy's line in a 
column. This was easily done"? and forming in their 
rear, the Americans assailed their broken line. The 
battle was gained. No sooner was their line broken, 
than the British began to throw down their arms and 
beg for quarter. 

On the American left, some fighting took place with 
the Indians. A lively fire was kept up for some time. 
Tecumseh rushed on Colonel Johnson, with his toma- 
hawk raised, and was on the point of striking him, 
when Johnson drew a pistol from his belt and shot him 
dead.^ The Indians, on the death of their chief, gave 
way and retired in confusion. (.See Engraving on the 
opposite page.) 

With the exception of a few who had galloped off 
with General Proctor, the whole British army was 
taken. Their loss in this engagement was eighteen 
killed and twenty-six wounded ; while the prisoners 
amounted to six hundred. The number of troops en- 
gaged on our side was less than twenty-five hundred, 
of whom nearly all were militia. The enemy brought 
into the field eight hundred and forty-five regular sol- 
diers and two thousand Indians: so that if there was 
any difference in point of numbers, it was in their 
favour. 



*It is bat fair to state that this account of the death of Tecum- 
seh is disputed ; and this with so much circumstantial evidence 
against the version of the affair in the text, that it still remains a 
question in the history of Indian warfare, — " Who killed Tecum- 
seh)"' 



TESTIMONY TO HARRISON'S MERIT. 



281 



We close our account of this war, which thus far 
may be characterized as an Indian war, with the fol- 
lowing remarks of Judge Hall* 

44 The defeat of the enemy was the consequence of a 
novel and most able disposition of our army by its 
commander, and the quickness with which he* took 
advantage of the enemy's errors on the field of battle, 
at the moment of engaging, and of the gallantry of 
our brave troops. It closed the war in that quarter ; 
and, together with the brilliant victory of Perry on the 
adjacent lake, rescued the w T hole north-western frontier 
from the depredations of the savage, and from all the 
accumulated horrors of war. In the language of the 
Hon. Langdon Cheves on the floor of Congress, 1 The 
victory of Harrison was such as would have secured 
to a Roman genera], in the best days of the republic, 
the honours of a triumph. He put an end to the war 
in the uppermost Canada.' He received his reward. 
He was complimented by Congress, and by various 
public bodies. There was but one voice — it was that 
of national gratitude, bursting out in loud acclamation, 
in applause of the public services of a great national 
benefactor." 



* " Memoir of the Public Services of William Henry Harrison, 
of Ohio." 




24* 



CHAPTER XIX. 



THE CREEK WAR. 

(1813 and 1814.) 

N the spring of 1812, the 
southern Indians were 
visited by the celebrated 
Tecumseh, who, with an 
ardent but savage elo- 
quence, urged them to 
take up arms against the 
whites. He reminded 
his countrymen of the 
usurpation of their lands 
by the European race; 
and painted in glowing terms their spirit of encroach- 
ment, and the consequent diminution of the Indians. He 
also brought to his aid the influence of religion, and de- 
nounced the vengeance of the Great Spirit against those 
who should imitate the manners of the whites. In short, 
his arguments had such an effect that the Creeks took 
up arms, and began to commit depredations upon the 
settlements of the Americans. 

The first regular appearance of hostility was, how- 
ever, made by the Creeks and Seminoles, who resided 
within the limits of Florida. A number of fugitive 
negroes having joined them, they began a cruel and 
harassing warfare against the whites. In September, 
1812, a party of Georgia volunteers, under the com- 
mand of Colonel Newman, was attacked near the 
Lackway towns, by a very superior force of Indians. 
They, however, bravely defended themselves, and the 

(282) 




(2S4J 



CREEK INDIANS DEFEATED. 



285 



Indians were obliged to retreat. But in the evening 
they again returned, and obliged the Georgians to re- 
treat to the place from which they had set out. 

On the 30th of August, 1813, Fort Mimms, which 
contained one hundred and fifty men, under the com- 
mand of Major Beasely, besides a number of women 
and children, was surprised by a party of Indians. The 
houses were set on fire, and those who escaped the 
flames fell victims to the tomahawk. Neither age nor 
sex was spared; and the most horrible cruelties, of 
which the imagination can conceive, were perpetrated. 
Out of the three hundred persons which the fort con- 
tained, only seventeen escaped to carry the dreadful 
intelligence to the neighbouring stations. 

This sanguinary and unprovoked massacre excited 
universal horror, and the desire of revenge. The state 
of Tennessee immediately took active measures for 
punishing the aggressors. General Jackson was order- 
ed to draft two thousand of the militia and volunteers 
of his division ; and General Coffee was directed to pro- 
ceed with five hundred mounted men to the frontier of 
the state. The former having collected a part of his 
force, joined Colonel Coffee on the 12th of October, at 
Ditto's landing, on th& Tennessee. * They then marched 
to the Ten Islands, on the same river. A few days 
afterwards, General Coffee was detached with nine 
hundred men to attack a body of the enemy, posted at 
Tallushatchee. He arrived early in the morning within 
a short distance of it, and dividing his force into two 
columns, completely surrounded it. The Indians, for a 
long time, made a desperate resistance, and did all that 
it was possible for men to do who were in their situa- 
tion. But they were finally overpowered, with the loss 
of one hundred and eighty-six men. (See Engraving 
on the opposite page.) A number of women and children 
were also taken prisoners. Of General Coffee's force, 
five were killed, and forty wounded. 

General Jackson now determined to proceed with his 
w 7 hole force to the relief of a post garrisoned by the friend- 
ly Indians, at Talladega, about thirty miles distant, which 



286 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

was besieged by the enemy. Accordingly, on the 
evening of the 7lh of December, he arrived within six 
miles of the enemy. On the next morning, his march 
was resumed, and having arrived at a mile from the 
Indians, he made his dispositions for the attack. The 
advance, under General Carroll, was directed to com- 
mence the action, and the mounted men were posted on 
the right and left so as to be able to surround the enemy. 
This plan would have fully succeeded, had not a part 
of the infantry fled on the first approach of the enemy. 
The Indians were, however, defeated, but a great por- 
tion of them escaped, in consequence of the investment 
not being complete. Three hundred warriors were left 
dead on the field, and a great number were killed in the 
pursuit. Of the Americans, fifteen were killed, and 
eighty wounded. 

An opportunity might now have offered to follow up 
the blow, but this was prevented by the want of pro- 
visions. General Jackson, therefore", marched back his 
army to Fort Strother, at the Ten Islands ; but on his 
arrival there, he learnt, to his great mortification, that 
no supplies had arrived. In this situation the army was 
reduced to great inconveniences, and discontent soon 
broke out among the volunteers. Having in vain en- 
deavoured to quell it, he ordered them to be marched 
back to Nashville, to await the orders of the president. 

. Whilst General Jackson was thus contending with 
his men, General Cocke, who commanded the militia 
of East Tennessee, detached General White with a 
part of his force against the towns of the Hillabee 
tribe. White proceeded to fulfil his instructions ; and 
having destroyed their town and killed sixty warriors, 
he returned with about two hundred and fifty prisoners. 
About the same time, the Georgia militia under General 
Floyd, obtained a signal victory over a body of the 
enemy at the Autossee towns, on the Tallapoosa river. 

General Jackson being now reinforced by a body of 
about one thousand mounted volunteers, determined to 
attack the Indians, who were posted at the bend of the 
Tallapoosa. On the 21st of January, 1814, he arrived 



OPERATIONS AGAINST THE CREEKS. 287 



in the vicinity of the enemy, and encamped in a hollow 
square. On the morning of the 22d, the Indians com- 
menced a furious attack upon his left flank, but after a 

' warm action were repulsed with considerable loss. 
Jackson now determined on a general attack. The 
Indians resisted for a long time, but were finally over- 
powered. They fled, leaving a great number of their 
companions lying dead on the field of battle. 

t This battle was not gained without considerable loss 
to the victors. The wounded required care and atten- 
tion, which they could not receive in that quarter, and 

.it was therefore determined to proceed to the Ten 
Islands. Accordingly, on the next morning, the army 
began its march, and proceeded without interruption 

; till it arrived at the Enotichopco creek. While crossing 
this, Jackson was attacked by a numerous body of 
Indians. On the first fire, the vanguard retreated into 
the creek, thus leaving only about twenty to oppose the 

.enemy. But the Indians, perceiving that they were 
now about to be attacked by the main body, retired in 

'confusion, and were pursued a considerable distance. 
Their loss during the pursuit was very great, while that 
of the Americans was but trifling. The repulse received 
by the enemy, prevented any further molestation of the 
army, which reached Fort Strother on the 27th of 

January. 

A short time after Jackson's return to Fort Strother, 
'the term of service of the volunteers expired, and they 
"were discharged with honourable testimonies, by their 
commander. To supply their places, a draft of twenty- 
!five hundred militia was now made, for a tour of three 
'months ; and on the 6th of February, a regiment of 
regular infantry, six hundred strong, arrived at Fort 
Strother. Discontent again broke out among his army, 
occasioned by the want of provisions ; but, by the firm- 
ness of General Jackson, order was again restored. He 
finally succeeded in gaining the supplies of which he 
was in so much need, and on the 14th of March, com- 
menced another expedition against the Creeks, which 
ended in the entire overthrow of this unfortunate nation. 



H 



288 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



The encampment which General Jackson determined 
to attack, was situated on the Tallapoosa, near Toucka. 
This place had been fortified by the Indians, with a de- 
gree of skill uncommon among an uncivilized people. 
The force which Jackson brought with him consisted 
of about three thousand men ; and at ten o'clock in the 
morning of the 27th of March, he arrived within a 
short distance of the encampment, and made his pre- 
parations for the attack. These were soon completed, 
and the army marched forward to the contest. The 
Indians resisted for a long time with the greatest obsti- 
nacy; but the ramparts were finally scaled and the 
enemy driven into the brush. But they were soon com- 
pelled to retire from this, and surrounded on every side. 
General Jackson now sent a flag, with an interpreter, 
to summon them to surrender. But the party was fired 
on and a person wounded. The destruction which they 
appeared to seek, was now accorded them. The trees 
and brush in which they had concealed themselves, 
were set on fire, and they were thus exposed to the 
view of their assailants, by whom their numbers were 
soon materially thinned. This work of slaughter and 
misery continued until night, when the few°wretched 
survivors, aided by the darkness, succeeded in making 
their escape. This victory gave a death-blow to the 
power and hopes of the Creeks. Five hundred and 
fifty-seven of their warriors were found dead on the 
ground; and three hundred women and children fell 
into the hands of the victors. The American loss was 
fifty-five killed, and one hundred and forty-six wounded. 

After this engagement, General Jackson returned 
with his victorious army to Fort Williams ; but, deter- 
mined to give his enemy no opportunity of retrieving 
the misfortune that had befallen him, he recommenced 
operations immediately afterwards. On the 7th of April, 
he again set out for Tallapoosa, with the view of form- 
ing a junction with the Georgia troops under Colonel 
Milton, and completing the subjugation of the country. 
On the 14th of that month, the union of the two armies 
was effected, and both bodies moved to a place called 



I 



SUBMISSION OF THE CREEKS. 



291 



the Hickory Ground, where, it was expected, the last 
final stand would be made by the Indians, or terms of 
submission would be agreed on. The principal chiefs 
of the different tribes had assembled here, and, on the. 
approach of the army, sent a deputation to treat for 
peace. Among them was Weatherford, celebrated 
equally for his talents and cruelty, who had directed 
the massacre at Fort Minims. It had been the intention 
of General Jackson, to inflict a signal punishment upon 
him, if ever in his power. Struck, however, with the 
bold and nervous eloquence of this fearless savage, 
and persuaded of the sincerity of his wishes for peace, 
he dismissed him without injury. Some of the speeches 
of this warrior have been preserved, and exhibit a beau- 
tiful specimen of the melancholy but manly tone of a 
savage hero, lamenting the misfortunes of his race. 
The following passages are all we have room to insert. 
(See Engraving, on the opposite page) Addressing Gene- 
ral Jackson, he said, " I am in your pow T er — do with 
me as you please. I am a soldier. I have done the 
white people all the harm I could ; I have fought them, 
and fought them bravely." " There was a time when 
I had a choice, and could have answered you : I have 
none now, — even hope is ended. Once I could animate 
my warriors ; but I cannot animate the dead. My war- 
riors can no longer hear my voice : their bones are at 
Talladega, Tallushatchee, Emuckfaw, and Tohopeka. 
Whilst there was a chance of success, I never left my 
post, nor supplicated peace. But my people are gone ; 
and I now ask it for my nation and myself." He 
shortly afterwards became the instrument of restoring 
peace, which was concluded by the total submission of 
the Indians. They agreed to retire in the rear of the 
army, and occupy the country to the east of the Coosa ; 
while a line of American posts was established from 
Tennessee and Georgia, to the Alabama, and the power 
and resources of these tribes were thus effectually de- 
stroyed. 



CHAPTER XX. 



SEMINOLE WAR. 

(1817.) 

UST after the close of the 
last war with Great Bri- 
tain, when the British 
withdrew their military 
force from the Floridas, 
Edward Nicholls, former- 
ly a colonel, and James 
Woodbine, a captain in 
the British service, who 
had both been instru- 
mental in exciting the 
Indians and negroes of the south to hostilities, remained 
in the territory for the purposes of forming combina- 
tions against the south-western frontier of the United 
States. To the Creeks, who had ceded their lands to 
our government by General Jackson's treaty of August, 
1814, Nicholls represented that they had been defrauded ; 
that the treaty of Ghent had provided for the restoration 
of their lands, and that the British government was 
ready to enforce their claims. He even went so far 
as to assume the character of a British agent, with 
powers, from the commencement, for supporting their 
pretensions. 

To effect their purposes, Nicholls and Woodbine 
established a fort on the Appalachicola river, between 
East and West Florida, as a rendezvous for runaway 
negroes and hostile Indians. In July, 1816, about four 

(292) 




FORT BLOWN UP. 



293 



hundred negroes and Indians were collected at this 
place, which was strong by its position, fortified with 
twelve pieces of artillery, and well provided with am- 
munition and provisions. 

To dislodge this horde of outlaws. Colonel Clinch, 
with a detachment of United States troops, and five 
hundred friendly Indians, under the command of M'ln- 
tosh, proceeded from the head waters of the Appalachi- 
cola, and laid siege to the fort on the land side. Nicholls 
and Woodbine first exacted an oath from their follow- 
ers not to suffer an American to approach the fort 
alive, and then giving it up to them went off. 

To supply Colonel Clinch's forces with munitions and 
provisions for the siege, two schooners, from New Or- 
leans, by permission of the Spanish authorities at Pen- 
sacola, proceeded up the Appalachicola, under convoy 
of two gun-boats, on the 10th of July. When near 
the fort, a watering party of seven men, from the 
schooners, was surprised by an ambuscade of negroes; 
five were killed, one escaped, and one w T as captured, 
tortured, and put to death. The gun-boats, having but 
a twelve pounder and twenty-five men each, w T ere 
deemed insufficient by Colonel Clinch to attack the 
fort, and their commander w 7 as cautioned against at- 
tempting any offensive operations. Not deterred by 
this, he warped up sufficiently near to reach it, and on 
commencing the firing of hot shot, one of them enter- 
ed the principal magazine, and blew up the fort. 

The destruction was complete: two hundred and 
seventy of the enemy were killed ; most of the remain- 
der were badly wounded, and only three of the whole 
number escaped unhurt. An immense quantity of arms 
and munitions of war, designed for supplying the In- 
dians and negroes with the means of annoying the 
frontier settlers, fell into the hands of the conquerors ; 
and two chiefs, who had directed the torture of Amer- 
ican prisoners, were given over to the tender mercies 
of M'Intosh's Indians. The savage horde of West 
Florida was thus broken up. 

In East Florida, an enemy of the same description 
25* 



294 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



was engaged in a similar system of operations. This 
province of Spain had become the receptacle of a popu 
lation of the vilest character. The Spanish authorities 
had no control over them beyond the limits of their 
fortified posts. The most numerous occupants of the 
interior were the Seminole Indians, outcast runaways, 
as their name indicates from the Creeks. Their allies 
were the Red Sticks, and other fugitives from the north- 
ern tribes. The Red-Sticks were Creeks who had been 
expelled from their lands in 1813. They had erected a 
high pole at their principal village of Mickasuky, and 
painted it red, to denote their thirst for the blood of 
the whites. Their flag was composed of scalps of 
Americans whom they had murdered. Hence their 
name Red-Sticks. To this Indian population were 
added sqppe hundreds of runaway negroes from Georgia. 
The frontier inhabitants had much to dread from such 
a population. Their warriors amounted to some fifteen 
hundred or more. Francis Hillishago, a Creek chief, 
had been on an unsuccessful visit to England for the 
purpose of recovering his lands by the aid of the go- 
vernment. The Spanish authorities of Florida, and 
numerous adventurers from New Providence, gave 
them encouragement, and supplied them with arms; 
and represented the Americans as enemies bent upon 
the extermination of the Indian race. Thus supported, 
these outcasts carried on a system of murder and plun- 
der on the frontiers of Georgia and Alabama, taking \ 
refuge in the Mickasuky and Sawaney villages, situated 
on the borders of Georgia. 

The region which had thus become the seat of a 
sanguinary border warfare, was situated in the military 
department of General Jackson, and was under the im- 
mediate command of Genera] Gaines. The latter, in 
pursuance of his orders to protect the frontier, concen- 
trated his forces in that quarter, and built Fort Scott, 
on the Flint river, near its junction with the Catahoo- 
chee ; Fort Gaines, on the latter river, on the line be- 
tween Georgia and Mississippi ; and Fort Crawford, in 
Mississippi, on the Canacho branch of the Escambia. 



INSTRUCTIONS TO GENERAL GAINES, 



295 



General Gaines' instructions on the subject of the 
Seminole war, were contained in four orders from the 
war department. The first, of the 30th of October, 
1816, after directing a detachment of Georgia militia 
to be called into service, states, " that the assurance of 
an additional force, the president flatters himself, will at 
least have the effect of restraining the Seminoles from 
committing further depredations, and perhaps of in- 
ducing them to make reparation for the murders which 
they have committed : should they, however, persevere 
in their refusal to make such reparation, it is the wish 
of the president that you should not, on that account, 
pass the line, and make an attack upon them w T ithin the 
limits of Florida, until you should have received further 
instructions from this department. You are^authorized 
to remove the Indians still remaining on the lands ceded 
by the treaty made by General Jackson with the Creeks." 

The second, bearing date the 2d of December, re- 
marks, " the state of our negotiations with Spain, and 
the temper manifested by the principal European pow- 
ers, make it impolitic, in the opinion of the president, 
to move a force, at this time, into the Spanish posses- 
sions, for the mere purpose of chastising the Seminoles 
for depredations which have heretofore been committed 
by them." By the third, dated the 9th of December, 
General Gaines w T as instructed, that should the Indians 
appear in force on the Spanish side of the line, and per- 
severe in committing hostilities within the limits of the 
United States, to exercise a sound discretion as to the 
propriety of crossing the line, for the purpose of at- 
tacking them and breaking up their towns. The fourth, 
bearing date the 16th of December, further instructed 

■ him, that should the Seminole Indians still refuse to 
make reparation for their outrages and depredations on 

. the citizens of the United States, to consider himself at 
liberty to march across the Florida line and attack 
them within its limits, unless they should shelter them- 
selves under a Spanish fort, and in that event, imme- 
diately notify the war department. 

On the 19th of November, 1816, General Gaines being 



296 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

at Fort Scott, and having been instructed to remove the 
remaining Creeks from the territory ceded to the United 
States, by Jackson's treaty, sent an officer to Fowl- 
town, one of their settlements near him, to require the 
removal of certain Indians still remaining. The chief 
returned a haughty refusal. Major Twigs being dis- 
patched on the next day, with two hundred and fifty 
men, to bring the chiefs and warriors to Fort Scott, was 
attacked by the Indians, but he repulsed and put them 
to flight, after killing and wounding a small number. 
Four days after, he marched to the town, which he 
found deserted. Three vessels, under the direction of 
Major Muhlenburg, with military stores for the supply 
of Fort Scott, were ascending the Appalachicola, on 
the 30th of November, when a party of forty men, un- 
der Lieutenant Scott, was sent down the river to their 
assistance, by General Gaines. Muhlenburg took out 
twenty of the men, and supplying their places with his 
sick, invalids, and seven women, sent the boat back 
towards the fort. At the mouth of Flint river, the boat 
was attacked by an ambuscade of Indians, and all 
were killed except six soldiers, who escaped to the op- 
posite shore by swimming, and one woman, who was 
captured. The scalps of the killed were taken to the 
Mickasuky village and added to the trophies on the red 
pole of the Indians. The vessels, retarded by the cur- | 
rent, and constantly assailed by the savage enemies who [ 
lined the banks of the river, received the aid of another 
detachment from the fort, which a favourable wind at [ 
last enabled them to reach. 

The news of these disasters induced the government 
to take more decisive measures, and on the 26th of De- 1 
cember, General Jackson was ordered to take the field, 
with instructions to raise troops at his discretion, and 
conform to the orders previously given to General 
Gaines, as to the method of prosecuting the war. An 
appeal from the general, to the patriotism of the volun- 
teers of West Tennessee, soon brought a thousand sol- 
diers into the service. They were ordered to rendez- 
vous at Fayetteville and proceed to Fort Scott. 



CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE SEMINOLES. 



297 



The general now left his residence at Nashville, and 
on the 9th of March arrived at Fort Scott, with nine 
hundred Georgia militia. He crossed the Flint river 
on the 10th, and arrived on the 16th at Prospect Bluff, 
where he erected a fort, to which he gave the name of 
Fort Gadsden, in honour of the engineer engaged in 
its erection. General Gaines had joined him on the 
march. 

Being nearly destitute of provisions, General Jack- 
son determined to sustain the army by causing supplies 
to be transported up the Escambia, passing Pensacola 
and the fortress of Barancas. He accordingly wrote 
to the Spanish governor of West Florida, that he should 
consider any interruption to this proceeding, on his part, 
as an act of hostility against the United States. The 
governor demanded duties on the stores, but did not 
venture to enforce his demand. 

M'Intosh, the Creek chief, with one thousand five 
hundred warriors, having entered the service of the 
United States in this expedition, the whole force of 
General Jackson now amounted to four thousand three 
hundred men. The enemy consisted of runaway In- 
dians and negroes to the amount of one-quarter or one- 
third of that number. No serious contest could be 
anticipated ; and, accordingly, the subsequent operations 
constituted, as Jackson afterwards aptly denominated 
it, " a war of movements." 

On the 1st of April, the Tennessee volunteers joined 
the main body, which had then nearly reached the 
Mickasuky villages. As they approached them, the 
outposts had a trifling skirmish with some Indians, who 
soon fled ; and the villages, on the arrival of the army, 
were found deserted by their inhabitants. The wigwams 
were burnt ; the old red stick, with the scalps of Lieu- 
tenant Scott's party attached to it, was found still 
standing. 

M'Intosh and his warriors were ordered to scour 
the neighbouring country in pursuit of the fugitives; 
and General Jackson now marched to the Spanish 
fort of St, Mark's, took possession of it, hoisted the 



298 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



American flag, and shipped the Spanish garrison to 
Pensacola. 

In the neighbourhood of this place was found a 
Scotch trader, named Alexander Arbuthnot, who had 
been carrying on an extensive intercourse with the 
hostile Indians and negroes. The general put him in 
close confinement. Francis Hillishago, the Creek chief, 
and Hoonotlemied, a Red-Stick chief, who had led the 
murderers of Lieutenant Scott's party, and had been 
decoyed^ on board a vessel in Apalachee bay, by Cap- 
tain M'Keever, were now hung by the general's order. 

The general then left a small garrison at St. Mark's, 
and on the 9th of April marched for the Sawaney villages, 
distant one hundred and seven miles. He arrived there 
on the 16th, killed eleven Indians, and took two prison- 
ers. The next day the villages were destroyed, and 
parties were sent out in pursuit of the fugitives. Ar- 
buthnot's schooner was captured at the mouth of the 
Sawaney river, and employed in transporting the sick 
and baggage of the army to St. Mark's. On the 18th, 
Robert C. Ambrister, late a lieutenant of marines in 
the British service, under Nicholls, was captured in the 
neighbourhood of the villages. 

The war was now considered as having terminated. 
The Georgia militia and M'Intosh's Indians were dis- 
charged; and on the 11th of April the main body set 
out for St. Mark's, and after a rapid march of five days 
arrived at that place. 

It is foreign to our purpose to go into a history of 
what was denominated, at that time, the Arbuthnot and 
Ambrister affair. The proceedings in relation to their 
trial were certainly of a very summary character, and 
they- were put to death; but whether as outlaws, spies, 
or pirates, we must leave to General Jackson to decide. 
It is worthy of remark, however, that the proceedings 
of the general, in relation to these men, were justified 
by the congress of the United States, and the parliament 
of Great Britain. The Spanish government complained, 
but were silenced by the answer of Mr. Adams. 

At St. Mark's, General Jackson received intelligence 



FLORIDA OCCUPIED BY AMERICAN TROOPS. 



299 



, that some of the fugitive Seminoles had escaped to 
West Florida. He, therefore, after leaving a garrison 
in the fort, marched into the immediate neighbourhood 
of Pensacola. The Spanish governor remonstrated ; 
the general occupied the town, and the governor and 
garrison were obliged to take refuge in the fortress 
of Barancas. (24th May.) The fort was now invested 
and bombarded till the 27th of May, when it was sur- 
rendered to the United States. St. Augustine, the only 
remaining Spanish fortress, being subsequently cap- 
tured by General Gaines, in obedience to Jackson's 
orders, the whole province was in the military posses- 
sion of the United States ; and the Seminole war had 

! ended in the conquest of Florida. 

The diplomatic proceedings which followed this 
event, the temporary restoration of the province, and 
its final cession, are matters which belong to the civil 
history of the United States. 

; Subsequent events have made it pretty apparent, that 

, in this war the Seminoles were not all killed. 




CHAPTER XXL 



BLACK HAWK'S WAR. 




|LACK HAWK, the In- 
dian chief whose fame 
has been recently so 
widely extended among 
us, was born on Rock 
river, in Illinois, about 
the year 1767. His great- 
grandfather was a chief 
by the name of Nana- 
makee, or Thunder. Hav- 
ing, at the early age of 
fifteen, taken the scalp of an enemy, he was admitted 
to the rank of a brave. A short time afterwards, he 
joined in a war-party against the Osages, and was 
greatly distinguished for his valour. On his return, he 
was allowed to join in the scalp-dance of the nation, 
His reputation being thus established, he frequently led 
war-parties against the enemies of his tribe, and was 
in almost every case successful. 

The treaty which had been made in 1804, by Go- 
vernor Harrison, with the Sacs and Foxes, by which 
they ceded their lands east of the Mississippi, was ex- 
ecuted by a few chiefs, without the knowledge or con- 
sent of the nation. Therefore, when Fort Madison was 
erected by the Americans, upon the Mississippi, these 
tribes expressed their dissatisfaction in an open manner, 
and even made an unsuccessful attempt to cut off the 
garrison. 

In the meanwhile, the territory of Illinois had been 
admitted into the Union, and now formed a state. Emi- 

(300) 



AGGRESSIONS UPON THE INDIANS. 



301 



grants poured in from all parts, and in a short time the 
territory occupied by the Sacs and Foxes was com- 
pletely surrounded by the settlements of the white men. 
These soon began to commit outrages upon their red 
neighbours, in order to hasten their departure from the 
ceded territory. In 1827, when these tribes were ab- 
sent from their homes, engaged in hunting, some of the 
whites set fire to their village, by which forty houses 
were consumed. The Indians said nothing concerning 
this disgraceful act ; J)ut, on their return, quietly rebuilt 
their dwellings. The whites also turned their cattle 
into the fields of the Indians, by which means the corn 
was all trodden under foot and destroyed. 

The American government now determined to sell 
the lands occupied by these tribes of Indians, and they 
were accordingly advised to remove. Keokuk, the 
chief, with a majority of the nation, determined to do 
so ; but Black Hawk, with a party which he gained 
over to himself, resolved to remain, at all hazards. 

Meanwhile, the whites committed greater acts of 
violence upon the Indians than before. The latter at 
last took up arms, and a war would certainly have 
taken place, had not General Gaines, commander of the 
western division of the United States' army, hastened 
to the scene of action. He held a council with the 
principal chiefs, in which it was agreed that the nation 
should instantly remove. They accordingly crossed the 
river and settled on its western bank. 

The majority of the Indians were on peaceable terms 
with the United States. But Black Hawk and his band 
determined to return to Illinois, alleging that they had 
been invited by the Potawatamies, residing on Rock 
river, to spend the summer with them, and plant corn 
on their lands. 

Accordingly, they crossed the Mississippi and pro- 
ceeded towards the country of the Potawatamies. They 
did not attempt to harm any one upon the road. The 
traveller passed by them without receiving any injury, 
and the inmates of the lowly hut experienced no out- 
rage. Thus they continued, and without doubt, no vio- 
26 



302 IXDIAX WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



lence would have been committed by them, had not the 
whites been the first to shed blood. Five or six Indians, 
who were in advance of the party, were all captured 
and put to death, by a battalion of mounted militia, ex- 
cept one who made his escape. The one who escaped 
brought the news to Black Hawk, who immediately 
determined to be revenged. He therefore planned an 
ambuscade, into which the militia were enticed. On 
receiving the fire of the Indians, they became panic- 
struck, and fled in disorder, with the loss of fourteen 
men. 

The Indians, now that the war was begun, deter- 
mined to do all the mischief in their power. They 
accordingly divided into small parties, proceeded in 
different directions, and fell upon the settlements which 
were at that time thinly scattered over a greater por- 
tion of Illinois. Here they committed such outrages 
that the whole state was in the greatest excitement. 
Governor Reynolds ordered out two thousand addi- 
tional militia, who, on the 10th of June, assembled at 
Hennepin, on the Illinois river, and were soon engaged 
in pursuit of the Indians. 

On the 20th of May, 1S32, the Indians attacked a 
small settlement on Indian Creek, and killed fifteen per- 
sons, besides taking considerable plunder. On the 14th 
of June, five persons were killed near Galena. General 
Dodge being in the neighbourhood, marched with thirty 
of his mounted men immediately in search of them. 
When he had gone about three miles, he discovered 
twelve Indians, whom he supposed to be the party that 
had committed the murders, and he entered into the pur- 
suit with great spirit. The Indians made for a swamp, 
in which they immediately took shelter. The whites 
rushed in after them, and soon met them. No resistance 
was made; every Indian was killed, and their scalps 
were taken off and borne away in triumph. 

Meanwhile, General Atkinson was pursuing Black 
Hawk, whose camp was near the Four Lakes. Instead 
of crossing the country, to retreat beyond the Missis- 
sippi, as was expected, he descended the Wisconsin, to 



BLACK HAWK PURSUED. 



303 



escape in that direction; by which means General 
Dodge came upon his trail and commenced a vigorous 
pursuit. 

On the 21st of July, Dodge, with about two hundred 
men, besides Indians, came up with Black Hawk, on 
the Wisconsin, forty miles from Fort Winnebago. The 
whites came upon the Indians just as they were about 
to cross the river ; after a short engagement the Indians 
retreated; and, it being dark, the whites could not pur- 
sue them without disadvantage to themselves. Black 
Hawk's party, it is supposed, lost about forty men in 
this encounter. 

The Indians were now in a truly deplorable condition ; 
several of them were greatly emaciated for want of 
food, and some even starved to death. In their pursuit 
of them before the battle, the whites found several of 
their number lying dead on the road. Yet were they 
not altogether dispirited, and they resolved to continue 
hostilities as long as they w^ere able. 

In the affair which we have just related, a squaw, 
the wife of a warrior, called Big-Lake, was taken 
prisoner. From her the whites learned that Black 
Hawk intended to proceed to the west side of the Mis- 
sissippi, above Prairie du Chien ; those having horses 
were to strike across the country, whilst the others 
were to proceed by the Wisconsin. A great many of 
these latter were taken prisoners on the road by the 
whites. 

Several circumstances now transpired to prevent the 
escape of the main body under Black Hawk. The 
first was his falling in with the "Warrior" steam- 
boat, (August 1st.) just as he was about to cross the 
Mississippi. On this occasion, the chief did not wish 
to fight, but to escape. He displayed two white flags ; 
and about one hundred and fifty of his men came to 
the river without arms, making signs of submission. 
But J. Throckmorton, the commander of the boat, 
either could not or would not understand their signals ; 
he gave orders for his men to fire upon them, w 7 hich 
they did ; the fire was returned, but without doing any 



304 INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. 

damage. The engagement lasted for about an hour, 
when the wood of the steam-boat began to fail, and 
it proceeded to the Prairie. In this battle, the Indians 
had twenty-three men killed, besides a great many 
wounded ; while the whites had none killed, and only 
one wounded. 

On the next day, Atkinson's army came up with 
Black Hawk, after having encountered many incon- 
veniences and dangers in the march. He immediately 
formed his troops in order of battle, and attacked 
the Indians. However, lest some should escape up 
or down the river, Atkinson had ordered generals 
Alexander and Posey to form the right wing of the 
army, and march down to the river above the Indian 
encampment on the bank, and then move down. The 
battle now commenced, and lasted for about three 
hours. The Indians fought with desperation, and dis- 
puted the ground with the greatest valour. They were, 
however, finally obliged to retreat. Their loss in killed 
and wounded amounted to about two hundred, while 
that of the Americans was but twenty-seven. 

This action may be considered as the finishing stroke 
of the war, although Black Hawk made his escape. 
From this time Black Hawk's men continually deserted 
him, and went over to the whites. Finally, the war- 
rior himself came in, and surrendered to the agent at 
Prairie du Chien. On this occasion he made a speech, 
in which he said that he regretted his being obliged to 
close the war so soon, without having given the whites 
much more trouble; that he had done nothing of which 
he had any reason to be ashamed ; that an Indian who 
was as bad as the white men would not be allowed to 
live in their communities ; and ended with the following 
words : " Farewell, my nation ! Black Hawk tried to 
save you, and revenge your wrongs. He drank the 
blood of some of the whites. He has been taken pri- 
soner, and his plans are stopped. He can do no more. 
He is near his end. His sun is setting, and he will rise 
no more. Farewell to Black Hawk." 

Black Hawk was now taken to Washington, where 



SEMINOLE WAR, 



305 



he had an interview with the President. He was 
then conducted through the principal Atlantic cities, 
and received everywhere with the most marked atten- 
tion and hospitality. He was then set at liberty, and 
returned to his nation. He died on the 3d of October, 
1838, at his village, on the Des Moines river.* 



CHAPTER XXII. 



SEMINOLE WAR. 

T is generally admitted that 
the existing Seminole war 
originated in the opposition 
of the Mecasukians, and 
some hostile chiefs of the 
Seminole nation, to the 
execution of the treaty of 
Payne's Landing. In this 
treaty it had been stipu- 
lated that the Seminole 
Indians should relinquish 
to the United States all claim to their lands, and emigrate 
to the region west of the Mississippi, in consideration of 
a certain sum of money which should be paid to them 
when they came to the banks of that river. It was 
further stipulated, that a party of these Indians should 
visit the territory in question, and give their opinion 
concerning it. This party accordingly proceeded thither, 
and when they returned, reported very favourably of the 
country. 

Every preparation was now made for leaving Florida, 




* See Hal] & M' Kenny's Indian Biography. 

26 * 



306 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES, 



when John Hext, one of the chief men of the tribe, 
who exercised a very great influence over them, died. 
Osceola, or Powell, who. previous to this time, had 
shown no extraordinary powers, now began to exhibit 
abilities which soon gave him. with the "Mecasukians, 
the influence exercised by John Hext. but which he wield- 
ed with far different purposes. For as Hext had always 
been in favour of the emigration, and was peaceably 
disposed, so was Osceola as much opposed to it ; and by 
every art in his power inflamed the minds of the people 
against the whites, and against the execution of this 
measure. He conducted himself in so violent a man- 
ner, that the Indian agent was obliged to arrest him 
and put him in irons. "But. deceived by his professions 
of friendship, he released him on his return to Fort Kino 1 . 

The first rupture with the Indians took place near 
Hogs Town settlement, on the 19th of July. A party 
of Indians had crossed their bounds for the purpose of 
hunting. They separated, and agreed to meet each 
other on a certain day. Accordingly, on that day five 
of the Indians had met together, when a party of white 
men came along, who flogged them with their cow- 
whips. Whilst they were doing this, two other Indians 
arrived, who. seeing what was going on. raised their 
war-whoop, and fired upon the whites. The fire was 
returned, by which one of the Indians was killed, and 
the other wounded. Three of the whites were also 
wounded. 

On the evening of the 6th of August. 1835, Dafton, 
who was employed to carry the mail from Camp King 
to Tampa Bay. was met by a party of Indians, who 
barbarously murdered him. General Thompson, the 
Indian agent, when he heard of this transaction, con- 
vened the chiefs, who promised to bring the offenders 
to justice. But this promise they did not keep: and 
while they were deluding the whites with fair promises, 
they gathered together arms, and made preparations 
for the war which they meditated. 

In September. Charley Omathla. a friendly chief of 
great influence, while journeying with his* daughter. 



HOSTILITIES BY THE SEMIXOLES. 



307 



was waylaid and shot by some Mecasukies, led by 
Osceola, probably with a view to deter other chiefs from 
favouring the operations of our government, which 
were steadily directed to the entire removal of the In- 
dians to the region west of the Mississippi. 

The occurrence of these and similar hostilities, in- 
duced General Clinch, the officer commanding on that 
frontier, to represent to the general government the im- 
portance of having an efficient force placed at his dis- 
posal, for terminating the war. It will be recollected 
by the reader, that General Jackson, when in similar 
circumstances himself, had assumed powers almost dic- 
tatorial, raised between four and five thousand troops, 
and conquered Florida from the Spaniards, without 
being able to find above a dozen or two of the Indians 
to kill. As president of the United States, he conducted 
this war in a very different style, having probably a 
different object. 

General Clinch, at the commencement of the hostili- 
ties, had no more than two hundred and fifty regulars. 
Receiving no seasonable aid from President Jackson, 
he called on the executive of Florida for assistance, 
obtained six hundred and fifty militia, and with this 
force made a demonstration on the Ouithlacoochee 
river. 

It was while the army was advancing in this direction 
that the most signal disaster, of this truly disastrous 
and disgraceful war, took place — the total destruction 
of the detachment commanded by Major Dade. 

On the 23d of December, the companies of Captains 
Gardiner and Frazer of the United States army, under 
Major Dade, marched from Tampa Bay for Camp 
King. The first halt was made at Hillsborough Bridge. 
Here Major Dade wrote to Major Belton, urging him 
to forward a six-pounder, which had been left four miles 
behind, in consequence of the failure of the team which 
was to have been used in transporting it. Three horses 
were purchased, with the necessary harness, and it 
joined the column that night. 

From this time no more was heard of the detach- 



808 



INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



ment until the 29th of December, when John Thomas, 
one of the soldiers, returned, and on the 31st, Rawson 
Clarke. The account given by the latter of the fate 
of the detachment is as follows : 

" It was eight o'clock. Suddenly I heard a rifle shot 
in the direction of the advanced guard, and this was 
immediately followed by a musket shot from that quar- 
ter. Captain Frazer had ridden by me a moment before 
in that direction. I never saw him afterwards. I had 
not time to think of the meaning of these shots, before 
a volley, as if from a thousand rifles, was poured in 
upon us from the front, and all along our left flank. I 
looked around me, and it seemed as if I was the only 
one left standing in the right wing. Neither could I, until 
several other volleys had been fired at us, see an enemv 
— and when I did, I could only see their heads and arms 
peering out from the long grass, far and near, and from 
behind the pine trees. The ground seemed to me an 
open pine barren, no hammock near that I could see. 
On our right, and a little to our rear, was a large pond 
of water, some distance off. All around us were heavy 
pine frees, very open, particularly towards the left, and 
abounding with long high grass. The first fire of the 
Indians was the most destructive, seemingly killing or 
disabling one half our men. 

"We promptly threw ourselves behind trees, and 
opened a sharp fire of musketry. I, for one, never fired 
without seeing my man, that is, his head and shoulders. 
The Indians chiefly fired lying or squatting in the grass. 
Lieutenant Bassinger fired five or six pounds of cannister 
from the cannon. This appeared to frighten the Indians, 
and they retreated over a little hill to our left, one-half 
or three-quarters of a mile off, after having fired not 
more than twelve or fifteen rounds. We immediately 
then began to fell trees, and erect a little triangular 
breastwork. Some of us went forward to gather the 
cartridge boxes from the dead, and to assist the wound- 
ed. I had seen Major Dade fall to the ground by the 
first volley, and his horse dashed into the midst of the 
enemy. Whilst gathering the cartridges, I saw Lieu- 



I 




(310) 



DESTRUCTION OF DADE'S DETACHMENT. 311 



tenant Mudge sitting with his back reclining against a 
tree, his head fallen, and evidently dying. I spoke to 
him, but he did not answer. The interpreter, Louis, it 
is said, fell by the first fire.* 

" We had' barely raised our breastwork knee high, 
when we again saw the Indians advancing in great 
numbers over the hill to our left. They came on boldly 
till within a long musket shot, when they spread them- 
selves from tree to tree to surround us. We immediately 
extended as Light Infantry, covering ourselves by the 
trees, and opening a brisk fire from cannon and musketry. 
The former I dont think could have done much mischief, 
the Indians were so scattered. (See Engraving on the 
opposite page,) 

"Captain Gardiner, Lieutenant Bassinger, and Dr. 
Gatlen, were the only officers left unhurt by the volley 
which killed Major Dade. Lieutenant Henderson had 
his left arm broken, but he continued to load his musket 
and to fire it, resting on the stump, until he was finally 
shot down ; towards the close of the second attack, and 
during the day, he kept up his spirits, and cheered the 
men. Lieutenant Keyes had both his arms broken in 
the first attack ; they were bound up and slung in a 
handkerchief, and he' sat for the remainder of the day, 
until he was killed, reclining against the breastwork, 
his head often reposing upon it, regardless of everything 
that was passing around him. 

" Our men were by degrees all cut down, We had 
maintained a steady fight from eight until two, P. M., 
or thereabouts, and allowing three quarters of an hour 
interval between the first and second attack, had been 
pretty busily engaged for more than five hours. Lieu- 
tenant Bassinger was the only officer left alive, and he 
severely wounded. He told me as the Indians ap- 
proached to lie down and feign myself dead. I looked 
through the logs, and saw the savages approaching in 



* It has since been learned that this person only feigned death, 
and that he was spared, and read all the dispatches and letters 
that were found upon the dead to the victors. — Cohen. 



312 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



great numbers. A heavy-made Indian, of middle stature, 
painted down to the waist, and whom I suppose to have 
been Micanope, seemed to be the chief. He made 
them a speech, frequently pointing to the breastwork. 
At length, they charged into the work ; there was none 
to offer resistance, and they did not seem to suspect the 
wounded being alive— offering no indignity, but stepping 
about carefully, quietly stripping off our accoutrements, 
and carrying away our arms. They then retired in a 
body in the direction from whence they came. 

" Immediately upon their retreat, forty or fifty negroes 
on horseback, galloped up and alighted, tied their beasts, 
and commenced with horrid shouts and yells the butch- 
ering of the wounded, together with an indiscriminate 
plunder, stripping the bodies of the dead of clothing, 
watches, and money, and splitting open the heads of all 
who showed the least signs of life with their axes and 
knives ; and accompanying their bloody work with 
obscene and taunting derision, and with frequent cries 
of " what have you got to sell V 

" Lieutenant Bassinger hearing the negroes butcher- 
ing the wounded, at length sprang up, and asked them 
to spare his life. They met him with the blows of their 
axes, and their fiendish laughter. Having been wounded 
in five different places myself, I was pretty well covered 
with blood, and two scratches that I had received on 
my head, gave me the appearance of having been shot 
through the brain, for the negroes, after catching me 
up by the heels, threw me down, saying, « damn him, 
he's dead enough!' They then stripped me of my 
clothes, shoes, and hat, and left me. After stripping all 
the dead in this manner, they trundled off the cannon 
in the direction the Indians had gone, and went away. 
I saw them first shoot down the oxen in their gear, 
and burn the wagon. 

" One of the other soldiers who escaped, says they 
threw the cannon in the pond, and burned its carriage 
also. Shortly after the negroes went away, one Wilson, 
of Captain Gardiner's company, crept from under some 
of the dead bodies, and hardly seemed to be hurt at all. 



ESCAPE OF A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 



313 



He asked me to go with him back to the fort, and I 
was going to follow him, when, as he jumped over the 
breastwork, an Indian sprang from behind a tree and 
shot him down. I then lay quiet until nine o'clock that 
night, when D. Long, the only living soul beside myself, 
and I, started upon our journey. We knew it was 
nearest to go to Fort King, but we did not know the 
way, and we had seen the enemies retreat in that di- 
rection. As I came out, I saw Dr. Gatlin lying stript 
amongst the dead. The last I saw of him whilst living, 
was kneeling behind the breastwork, with two double 
barrel guns by him, and he said, 6 Well, I have got four 
barrels for them!' Captain Gardiner, after being se- 
verely wounded, cried out, ' I can give you no more 
orders, my lads, do your best!' I last saw a negro 
spurn his body, saying, with an oath, 6 that 's one of 
their officers.' 

" My comrade and myself got along quite well until 
the next day, when we met an Indian on horseback, 
and with a rifle, coming up the road. Our only chance 
was to separate — we did so. I took the right, and he 
the left of the road. The Indian pursued him. Shortly 
afterwards I heard a rifle shot, and a little after another. 
I concealed myself among some scrub, and saw pal- 
metto, and after a while saw the Indian pass, looking 
for me. Suddenly, however, he put spurs to his horse, 
and went off at a gallop towards the road. 

" I made something of a circuit before I struck the 
beaten track again. That night I was a good deal an- 
noyed by the wolves, who had scented my blood, and 
came very close to me ; the next day, the 30th, I reached 
the fort." 

The following is the report of Captain Hitchcock 
concerning this affair : 

"Western Department, ) 
Fort King, Florida, Feb. 22, 1836. \ 
« General — Agreeably to your directions, I observed 
the battle ground six or seven miles north of the With- 
lacoochee river, where Major Dade and his command 
were destroyed by the Seminole Indians, on the 28th 
27 



314 rxzoAO* wj-jrs of tkz rxrrzi states. 

"The force under your command, which arrived at 
this post to-day from Tampa Bay, encamped on the 
19th instant, on the ground occupied fay Major Dade 
on the nigh: ::' the 2?th December. He' a- : 
were destroyed :: the morning :f ihe 2StrT"a u: 
miles in acv'a:: :e tha: r : s::f: He wa^ V'-i-V-- i.-VZ 

towards this oost, a:.: attained dm — 

that on the 20th instant we came upon the rear of his 
: a::.e ground, a:: nine : ' : i : :k ir r - •- - Vv-d 

when the General and his Staff came noon one of thi* 
most appalling srer.es :ha: can be ima-^ \Y^' 
saw some broken and scattered bones * then a cart, the 
two oxen of which we^ V- d-^-d : - -^*--V.-7 
fallen asiee:, their yrkes VfTn mem ; 1 h^T^ 



Within th e : rian^e? ale r r "th e 
it. were ab-ut tmmv b-.i r ~- 
though much of the eimmi'wa 



their hre. ana their bodies stretch: 
larity parallel to each other. The 
shot dead a: their 0:5:5. and toe 
turbed them, exceed bv taking th 
them. Passing this iittie areas:-- 
bodies along me read, reneradv be 
been resorted to for coveis from tJ 
van c in z about :-~; 
chner'of bodies m ;ne miaaie oft 
evidently the advanced guard, ii 
was the body of Major Dade, and 
Captain Fraser. 



APPEARANCE OF DADE'S BATTLE GROUND. 315 



must, however, have fallen very early in the fight* 
Those in the road, and by the trees, fell during the first 
attack. It was during a cessation of the fire, that the 
little band still remaining, about thirty in number, threw 
up the triangular breast-work, which, from the haste 
with which it was constructed, was necessarily defective, 
and could not protect the men in the second'attack. 

" We had with us many of the personal friends of 
the officers of Major Dade's command ; and it is grati- 
fying to be able to state, that every officer was identi- 
fied by undoubted evidence. They were buried, and 
the cannon, a six-pounder, that the "Indians had thrown 
into a swamp, was recovered, and placed vertically at 
the head of the grave, where it is to be hoped it will 
long remain. The bodies of the non-commissioned 
officers and privates were buried in two graves, and it 
w x as found that every man was accounted for. The 
command was composed of eight officers, and one 
hundred and two non-commissioned officers and pri- 
vates. The bodies of eight officers and ninety-eight 
men were interred ; four men having escaped, three of 
whom reached Tampa Bay : the fourth was killed the 
day after the battle. 

" It may be proper to remark, that the attack was 
not made from a hammock, but in a thinly wooded 
country ; the Indians being concealed by palmetto and 
grass, which has since been burned. 

" The two companies were Captain Frazer's of the 
3d Artillery, and Captain Gardiner's of the 2d Artillery. 
The officers were, Major Dade of the 4th Infantry, 
Captains Fraser and Gardiner, Second Lieutenant Bas- 
singer, Brevet Second Lieutenants R. Henderson, Mudge 
and Keyes, of the Artillery, and Dr. J. S. Gatlin. 

" I have the honour to be, with the highest respect, 
your obedient servant, 

E. A. HITCHCOCK, 
Captain 1st Infantry, Act. In. General. 
Major General E. P. Gaines, 
Commanding Western Department, Fort King, Florida." 



316 IXDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Thus perished the gallant Dade and his command by 
the hand of a cruel and savage foe. They maintained 
their ground until none were left unwounded, and then 
those who were not dead were massacred by a cruel 
and bloodthirsty foe. Their names are honoured by all, 
and it is hoped that the nation may erect some endurino* 
memorial which shall mark the scene of their suffering^ 
and record the virtues of these martyrs in their country's 
cause. 

On the 6th of January, 1836, a party of thirty Indians 
made an attack on Mr. Cooly's family, settled on New- 
River, about twelve miles from Cape Florida, whilst he 
was absent from home. They murdered his wife, three 
children, and a Mr. Flinton, who was employed as their 
teacher. Mr. Cooly had long resided among the Indians, 
learnt their language, and uniformly treated them with 
kindness. But, -notwithstanding these circumstances, 
they massacred his whole family in cold blood. The 
families in the neighbourhood, seeing what was going 
on, made their escape, and thus avoided a similar fate. 

On the 31 st of December, 1835, General Clinch 
pushed forward across the Ouithlacoochee, to attack 
the Indians who were encamped about a mile from that 
river. The following account of this engagement is 
taken from the general's official report : 

■ " Head Quarters, Territory of Florida, ) 
Fort Drane, Jan. 4, 1836. \ 

« Sir— On the 24th ultimo, Brigadier General Call, 
commanding the volunteers called into service by order 
of his Excellency G. R. Walker, Acting Governor of 
Florida, formed a junction with the regular troops at 
this post, and informed me that his command had been 
raised to meet the crisis ; that most of their terms of 
service would expire in a few days, which made it 
necessary to act promptly, Two "large detachments 
vyere sent out on the 15th, to scour the country on our 
right and left flank. Lieut. Col. Fanning, with three 
companies from Fort King, arrived on the 27th ; and 
on the 29th, the detachment having returned, the Bri- 



BATTLE OF THE OUITHLACOOCHEE. 



317 



gade of Mounted Volunteers, composed of the 1st and 
2d regiments, commanded by Brigadier General Call, 
and a battalion of regular troops, commanded by Lieut. 
Col. Fanning, took up the line of march for a point on 
the Ouithlacoochee river, which was represented by our 
guides as being a good ford. About four o'clock on the 
morning of the 31st, after leaving all our baggage, pro- 
visions, &c, protected by a guard commanded by Lieut, 
Dancy, we pushed on with a view of carrying the ford, 
and of surprising the main body of Indians, supposed 
to be concentrated on the west bank of the river ; but 
on reaching it, about day-light, we found, instead of a 
good ford, a deep and rapid stream, and no means of 
crossing, except in an old and damaged canoe. Lieut. 
Col. Fanning, however, soon succeeded in crossing ; 
the regular troops took a position in advance, whilst 
Brig. Gen. Call was actively engaged in crossing his 
brigade, and in having their horses swum over the river. 
But before one half had crossed, the battalion of regu- 
lars, consisting of about two hundred men, were attacked 
by the enemy, who were strongly posted in the swamp 
and scrub which extended from the river. This little 
band, however, aided by Col. Warren, Major Cooper, 
and Lieut. Yeoman, with twenty-seven volunteers, met 
the attack of a savage enemy, nearly three times their 
number, headed by the Chief Osceola, with Spartan 
valour. The action lasted nearly an hour, during which 
time the troops made three brilliant charges into the 
swamp and scrub, and drove the enemy in every direc- 
tion ; and after the third charge, although nearly one- 
third their number had been cut down, they were found 
sufficiently firm and steady to fortify the formation of 
a new line of battle, which gave entire protection to 
the flanks, as well as to the position selected for re- 
crossing the troops. Brig. Gen. Call, after using every 
effort to induce the volunteers remaining on the east 
bank, when the action commenced, to cross the river, 
and in arranging the troops still remaining on that bank, 
crossed over, and rendered important service by his 
coolness and judgment in arranging part of his corps 
27 * 



318 INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. 

on the right of the regulars, which gave much strength 
and security to that flank." 

Here the general goes into a pretty minute enume- 
ration of the signal services performed by sundry cap- 
tains, lieutenants, and sergeants, of whom he gives the 
names, regiments, &c, after which he thus concludes : 
+ " The term of service of the volunteers having ex- 
pired, and most of them having expressed an unwilling- 
ness to remain longer in service, it was considered best, 
after removing the dead, and taking care of the wounded, 
to return to this post, which we reached on the 2d in- 
stant, without the least interruption; and on the follow- 
ing day the Volunteers from Middle Florida took up the 
line of march for Tallahassee, and this morning those 
from East Florida proceeded to their respective homes, 
leaving me a very few men to guard this extensive 
frontier. I am now fully convinced, that there has been 
a great defection among the Florida Indians, and that a 
great many Creeks have united with them, consequently 
it will require a strong force to put them down." 

While these operations were going forward in the 
western part of the peninsula, the plantations and set- 
tlements in the neighbourhood of St. Augustine were 
ravaged by the enemy, many of the inhabitants slain, 
and the negroes taken away. General Hernandez, who 
was in command at that place, ordered out the militia, 
who were ill supplied with munitions and provisions; 
and were, for the most part, unable to follow the rapid 
movements of the Indians, or even to arrest the pro- 
gress of their devastations. A detachment under Major 
Putnam, succeeded in bringing the Indians to action at 
Dunlawton, the plantation of George Anderson ; a skir- 
mish took place, in which, according to the official 
report, one negro was killed outright, and seventeen 
more wounded — two mortally. The same report claim- 
ed to have killed ten of the Indians ; and assigns the 
immense superiority of the enemy's force as a reason 
for his retreating after what is humorously denominated 
the Battle of Dunlawton. 

At this period of the war it was asserted without 



GAINES'S EXPEDITION TO THE OUITHLACOOCHEE. 319 

contradiction in congress, that in East Florida five hun- 
dred families had been driven from their homes, and their 
possessions destroyed by the Indians ; and that all this 
individual suffering, and every other calamitous con- 
sequence of the contest, had been caused, not by the 
hostility of the savages to the citizens, but by the de- 
termination of the enemy to resist the fixed policy of 
the government to remove them to the region west of 
the Mississippi. An appropriation was then voted by 
congress for the relief of the families suffering by the 
hostilities of the Indians. 

General Gaines, the commander of the southern di- 
vision of the army of the United States, was on a tour 
of observation, remote from the scene of action, when 
hostilities commenced. Arriving at New Orleans, Jan- 
uary 15th, and learning the state of affairs, he called 
on the governor of Louisiana to have a body of volun- 
teers in readiness for service, and proceeded himself to 
the seat of war. At Pensacola he found some armed 
vessels under Commodores Dallas and Bolton, and Cap- 
tain Webb, who had commenced operations near Tampa 
Bay. Colonel Twigs was ordered to receive into ser- 
vice the Louisiana volunteers, which, with the regular 
troops in the neighbourhood, amounted to one thousand 
one hundred men. 

General Gaines now returned to New Orleans to 
hasten the reinforcements, and on the 9th of February 
arrived at Tampa with the forces, in three steam-boats. 
He then marched for Fort King, where he arrived on 
the 22d February, and thence moved down the Ouith- 
lacoochee. On the 27th, at General Clinch's crossing 
place, he had a slight skirmish with the enemy, in which 
he lost one killed, and eight wounded. 

On the 28th, the army was again attacked on its 
march, and the firing continued half a day, during 
which Lieutenant Izard, of the United States Dragoons, 
fell mortally wounded ; one other was killed, and two 
wounded. On the 29th another attack took place, the 
Indians appearing in considerable force, (one thousand 
£tt^ v. nKir ^ vp ^ or twn thousand^ One man was killed, 



320 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES, 

and thirty-three wounded ; General Gaines among the 
latter, he having received a shot in the under lip. Skir- 
mishes followed till the 5th of March, when Osceola, 
who commanded the Indians, requested a parley, which 
accordingly took place on the morning of the 6th. when 
the Indians were informed that a Larger force was 
coming to the support of the army before them, and 
that unless they submitted, every Indian found in arms 
would be shot. They replied, that they would hold a 
council, and give their answer in the afternoon. At 
the afternoon conference, they professed to be tired of 
the war, and asked for further time to learn the wishes 
of their governor, Micanopy, who was absent. They 
were told that on condition of their retiring south of 
the Ouithlacoochee, and attending a council when called 
on by commissioners on the part of the United States, 
they should^not be molested. To this they agreed; but 
General Clinch, who had been summoned by express 
from Fort Drane. coming upon the main body of the 
Indians, at this moment, they supposed themselves to 
have been surrounded by deliberate stratagem, and that 
they were about to be cut off; and they incontinently 
fled, probably in no humour to renew the negotiation. 
General Clinch brought five hundred men, and abundant 
supplies, of which General Gaines's army was in great 
need, no competent provision having been previously 
made by the commissariat department. 

General Gaines now transferred his command to 
General Clinch, and returned to New Orleans. Clinch 
retired with his whole force to Fort Drane. In this 
expedition, the whites lost five killed, and sixty wounded ; 
the Indians acknowledged a loss of thirty men. 

We deem it unnecessary to follow out the petty de- 
tails of this war, which, to say the least, appears to 
have been very unnecessarily' protracted. General 
Scott was subsequently ordered to take the chief com- 
mand; and he is believed by the best judges of military 
operations, to have commenced a system of attack 
which would have speedily brought the whole affair to 
a close ; but in the middle of his career, he was sud- 



DURATION OF THE SEMINOLE WAR, 321 

denly superseded. General Jessup's operations are hardly 
worthy the notice of history. 

The war has now lasted nearly five years ; and at 
an annual cost of about five millions of dollars to the 
nation ; and should the present system of operations be 
persisted in, it will, probably, equal in continuance the 
celebrated siege of Troy. " Its military history cannot 
be intelligently written, until its financial history shall 
be more fully developed ; and this latter task we are 
willing to leave to successors who shall be better versed 
in the mysteries of army contracts than ourselves. 



THE END. 



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